The Ruhleben Prison Camp: a record of nineteen months' internment

THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

"JEWISH LIFE IN MODERN TIMES," ETC.

BARON VON TAUBE

ACTING COMMANDANT

MR. J. POWELL

CATTAIN

THE

RUHLEBEN PRISON

GAMP:

A RECORD OF NINETEEN MONTHS' INTERNMENT

BY

ISRAEL COHEN

LATE CHAIRMAN OF THE RUHLEBEN LITERARY AND DEBATING SOCIETY

WITH TWENTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS AND A PLAN

1

METHUEN & CO. LTD.

36 ESSEX STREET W.C.

LONDON

A %l '

First Published in 1917

1

Id

G

TO MY

BROTHERS AND SISTERS

WHO

COMFORTED ME

IN CAPTIVITY

THIS CHRONICLE OF

MY TRAVAILS

IS GRATEFULLY

INSCRIBED

PREFACE

IT may seem somewhat of a paradox to preface this book
with the statement that when I first returned to England
from my captivity I had no intention of writing it : but
it is a paradox that has the merit of truth. It was only after
I had realised the general ignorance prevailing in this country
concerning the conditions in the Ruhleben Camp, and likewise
the sustained and widespread interest in the welfare of the
British civilian prisoners interned there, that I resolved to
write this record of my own internment.

The Ruhleben Camp is only one of about a hundred and fifty
prisoners of war camps in Germany, but its name is probably
the most widely known on this side of the North Sea, owing to
its being the camp in which all British civilians of military age
in the German Empire are concentrated, and to the frequency
with which its affairs have engaged the attention of both Houses
of Parliament in this country. I was interned there for nineteen
months, from November 6, 1914, unto June 6, 1916. Previous
to my internment I was imprisoned for a few days in September,
1914, solely on the ground of my being a British subject, in the
" Stadtvogtei Gefangnis," Berlin. On the day of my removal
to Ruhleben I was again locked up for a few hours in that same
jail, which served as a collecting-station, and five months later
I was lodged within its walls for the third and longest period.

In the following pages I have endeavoured to set forth as
faithfully as my memory would permit the varied vicissitudes
through which I passed from the outbreak of the war down to
my arrival in London. I have confined myself as much as possible

vii

viii / THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

to a record of my own experiences and observations, supple-
mented only to a small extent by the information I gleaned from
trustworthy fellow-prisoners. I have extenuated nothing, nor
aught set down in malice, though discretion has impelled me to
omit various matters that, in the interests of the comrades I
have left behind me, it would be wise not to publish until the
Ruhleben Racecourse is restored once more to its original peace-
ful purpose. The omissions are so trifling, however, in relation
to the narrative as a whole, that I venture to bespeak for this
volume the value of an historic document.

I have tried to make this record as comprehensive and vivid
as possible by including within it all the manifold aspects, epi-
sodes, and activities of the captive community ; and I trust
that I have made it abundantly clear that whatever changes
have been wrought to render the burden of internment less in-
tolerable are, to a predominating degree, the result of the collec-
tive efforts of the prisoners themselves. There is one aspect of
the Camp life upon which, although I have treated it as fully
as I could within the limited compass of the present volume,
an entire book could be written, namely, the purely human — or
inhuman — aspect. Hundreds of tragedies are being slowly and
secretly enacted behind the brick walls and barbed wire fence
of Ruhleben, tragedies that will never be known beyond the
immediate circle of those whom they concern — of men torn from
their families, reft of their livelihood, and tormented daily by
gnawing anxiety about the future struggle for which physical
privation and mental depression are rendering them more and
more unfit. Ever since the Ruhleben Camp was established its
inhabitants have been buoyed up by the hope of its early dis-
solution. That hope, for more than two years, has proved a
mere will-o'-the-wisp, and yet it has helped to sustain many
a brooding and drooping soul from month to month. The British
and German Governments have at length agreed to exchange
all civilian prisoners above the age of forty-five, but after this

PREFACE ix

agreement is carried out there will still be three thousand
British civilian prisoners of war at Ruhleben — all men who have
been denied any of the glories or compensations of war, and who
will have to resume the battle of life with crippled constitutions.
No visitor to Ruhleben, whether official or private individual,
whether neutral or Allied, however profound his sympathy,
however acute his observation, however shrewd and penetrating
his sagacity, and however long his visit, can appreciate even a
tithe of the cumulative effect of the physical, mental, and moral
sufferings of the men who have been interned there for the last
two years and more. Friends of their fellow-Englishmen should
spare no efforts, in the interests of humanity and patriotism, to
secure the release as early as possible of the remaining captives
in the Ruhleben Prison Camp.

ISRAEL COHEN

London,

On the Second Anniversary of my Internment ',
November 6, 1916.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. A Troubled Holiday

II. My First Imprisonment

III. At Liberty in Berlin

IV. The Act of Internment .
V. Rules, Regimen, and Rumours

VI. The Segregation of the Jews .

VII. Administration, Discipline, and Punishment

VIII. Communal Organization .

IX. Events of the First Winter

X. In Prison Again ....

XI. The Pro-Germans ....

XII. Social Amenities and Characters

XIII. Summer Developments

XIV. Sports and Pastimes
XV. The Parliamentary By-ElEction

XVI. Intellectual Activities .

XVII. Music, Drama, and Art

XVIII. The Second Winter ....

XIX. Food and Health Conditions .

XX. Mental, Moral, and Spiritual Factors

XXI. Barrack VI ....

XXII. The Outside World ....

XXIII. The Exchange of Prisoners

XXIV. The Second Summer ....
XXV. My Release

Appendix ......

Index ......

XI

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Plan of the Ruhleben

Prison C

AMP

Front End

Paper

Acting Commandant and Captain

Frontispiece

The Military Staff

FACING PAGE
• 30

Author's Horse-Box

. 46

The Military Guard

• 56

The Civilian Police

• 56

Canteen and Stores

. 68

Bill-Posting Station

68

The " Pond " Store

. 84

The Parade in Winter

84

The Boer Giant

. 114

The Negroes' Barrack

114

The Parade in Summer

124

Fetching Dinner

124

A Cricket Match

134

A Boxing Bout .

134

Election Scenes and Posters

142

Physical Laboratory and Class-

Room

152

The Orchestra

160

The Art Studio

160

Pantomime Beauty Chorus

166

The Theatre

166

The Parcels Office

182

Interior of Kitchen

182

The Chapel

202

The Synagogue

202

Marching to the Kitch

2N

230

Xlll

THE RUHLEBEN PRISON GAMP

THE RUHLEBEN PRISON

CAMP

CHAPTER I

A TROUBLED HOLIDAY

The Prelude to the War — Journeying to Schandau — Arrested as " Russian
spy " — Russian lady's suspected sex — England's war declaration — Visit from
a gendarme — Confined within bounds — Return to Berlin.

ALTHOUGH I had been living in Berlin three years
before the outbreak of the War as correspondent for
Lsome English papers, and therefore made it my business
to follow very closely the relations between Germany and England
as reflected in the German press, the Reichstag, and public meet-
ings, I confess that I never foresaw the cataclysm that broke
upon the world in the month of August, 1914. The Liberal
journals, such as the Berliner Tageblatt, the Vossische Zeitung,
and the Frankfurter Zeitung, as well as the Radical and Socialist
parties, always advocated a friendly understanding between
Germany and England, and even the Conservative press acknow-
ledged the beneficent influence of England in bringing the
Balkan Peace Conference to a satisfactory termination. Nor
did I suspect any serious change in the political horizon when,
on a glorious Sunday afternoon in June, 19 14, in the animated
gardens attached to the Grand Berlin Art Exhibition — the Royal
Academy of the German capital — I read a special news-bill
pinned to the trunk of a tree, which announced the assassination
of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and of his con-
sort. A journalistic colleague whom I met a fortnight later, and
who had been living in Berlin for ten years, was also so little

2 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

moved by this event that he complained of things being dull and
thought of going away on a holiday. And even after Austria
declared war upon Serbia, that self -same colleague agreed with
me that the conflict would most likely be localised, and that
there was very little probability of England being dragged in.

So, feeling secure about the future, on the morning after the
first Austrian shots were fired across the Serbian frontier, I took
the train for Schandau, a pleasant health resort just beyond
Dresden, in order to indulge in a much-needed holiday. And I
thereby wrought my own undoing, for it was not until twenty-
two months later, of which I spent nineteen in an internment
camp, and during which I made three distinct sojourns in a
prison-cell, that I was able at last to set foot on English soil
again. My colleagues who remained behind in Berlin all became
very wise after the event, and although they may stoutly protest
that they " saw the thing coming all the time," they were so
little prepared for England's entry into the war arena that they
fled from their homes and lodgings merely with a handbag in
order to get a seat in the Ambassador's train.

There was plenty of war in the air during my journey, for the
train was crowded with Austrian reservists, who were travelling
with their wives and families, in a spirit of resignation, to fight
for the Fatherland. At Dresden we received a further batch of
reservists, and on my crossing the Elbe in a ferry-boat and
entering the pretty townlet of Schandau I noticed that there
was keen excitement, for all the Austrian and Hungarian visitors,
of whom there were a large number, were busy packing up for
home, and the hotel-keepers began to feel a little uneasy. By
the end of the week the exodus of the Russians also began, and
the hotel-keepers and boarding-house keepers looked still more
uneasy. And when the Germans too, after the Kaiser issued the
order of mobilisation, began to pack up their traps, the prospect
certainly looked alarming. But all the papers were unanimously
agreed that England, "our cousin across the sea," would keep
out of the conflict, and so I remained at the homely " pension,"
in the shadow of the pine-clad mountains, and strolled about
the leafy promenades, listening to the local band, composed
half of boys, which broke the stillness of the air repeatedly
with the resonant strains of " Deutschland, Deutschland iiber
Alles."

A TROUBLED HOLIDAY 3

On the first Monday in August, when the mobilisation was
already in fall swing, and the walls were plastered with all sorts
of patriotic proclamations, there was a regular hunt for Russians
by the police, for a wild rumour had got about that there was a
den of Russian spies in the neighbourhood. The search was
futile, and the police mopped their brows in despair. The
following morning I went as usual to fetch my correspondence
from the post-office, which was situated opposite the quaint old
Rathaus ; and I had no sooner received my correspondence
than a policeman, who had evidently been watching for me
from the opposite window, strode with dangling sabre into the
office, seized my papers, and demanded my passport. I pro-
duced the document, which I had always carried with me since
my settlement in Berlin, and opened it out on the public desk.
The constable, a veritable Dogberry, scrutinised it with suspicion.

" What is this ? " he cried. " Are you a Russian ? "

"No," I replied. " I am an Englishman."

" How am I to know that ? " he retorted. "This passport isn't
in German ! You will have to come with me."

I politely explained that English passports were invariably
printed in English, and as a concession pointed out that mine
had been issued by the British Consulate in Berlin. Herr Schutz-
mann Dogberry looked sullen and bade me accompany him to the
Rathaus opposite, where I was led into an inner room, whilst my
papers were taken possession of by a clerk who puzzled over
them in vain. I heard Dogberry whisper with a scowl : " Rus-
sischer Spion ! " but the clerk shook his head wisely and scepti-
cally. Then a beer-bellied baker, with a reputed mastery of
English, was summoned, in his shirt-sleeves and flour-strewn
trousers, from the Post Strasse, to co-operate in deciphering the
documents ; and after a quarter of an hour of suspense I was
allowed to leave again with my correspondence.

As I descended the stairs into the street I saw a middle-aged
lady escorted by five workmen, and followed by a crowd of
women and children, making for the Town Hall. The workmen
had been occupied in repairing a barge on the bank of the Elbe,
and they had noticed the lady walking all alone and suspiciously
watching them, and they found out that she was Russian and
felt sure that she was " a man in disguise." So the local doctor
was sent for with his Polish wife in order to clear up the mystery,

4 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

whilst the crowd awaited the result with bated breath. But
presently the workmen, who had been congratulating themselves
on their splendid capture, slowly descended the stairs with
dejected faces and muttered " Eine Frau ! " — whereupon the
crowd dispersed in disappointment.

That same evening I read an announcement in the window of
the local Selfridge, where all the latest bulletins were posted,
that England had declared war on Germany, and the following
morning, whilst I was at breakfast, I received a visit from the
local Gendarmerie Brigadier, who arrived on his bicycle. He was
a tall, burly individual, and armed to the teeth, with rifle, re-
volver, and sword, as though he had come to arrest a band of
anarchists. He demanded my passport, and like his colleague,
Herr Schutzmann Dogberry, he also exclaimed : " But this isn't
in German ! " So I translated the document to him, and after
I had answered his various questions and he made notes of my
replies, he informed me that he would have to send my passport
and his report to the Commandant of the nearest garrison, and
asked me to call on him in three days. At the appointed time
1 returned the visit and found the Brigadier in his shirt-sleeves
at home. He immediately donned his uniform and dignity, and
produced from his desk a military report which he read out.
I was to be carefully watched but treated considerately ; I was
not to attempt any correspondence nor walk beyond the limits
of the township ; and my passport would be held until I wished
to return to Berlin, when it would be restored to me.

So I remained and recuperated at Schandau, keeping well
within bounds, and paying visits morning and evening to the
Post Strasse to study the latest bulletins in the window of the
principal grocer and chandler, and to listen to the sagacious and
enthusiastic comments of the villagers upon every fresh crop of
victories. The war was already making itself felt in this little
community even in those early weeks, for every man of the
reserve up to forty years was called up, every sound horse in the
district was bought up for the army, and a staff of special con-
stables was enrolled, who, wearing a white badge on their sleeve,
patrolled the district by day and kept guard, with the aid of a
rifle, by night on the railway bridge across the Elbe. Enthusiasm
was diligently maintained by the local band, which played
patriotic airs and military marches by day and night, and though

A TROUBLED HOLIDAY 5

it repeatedly proclaimed " Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein ! '
it certainly mrde the surrounding neighbourhood very unruhig.
I was unable to send off any correspondence not merely to
England but to any part of Germany, and the only post I received
consisted of a picture postcard and a corrected proof addressed
to my London publisher, which, though they were dispatched
on July 30th, were returned a fortnight later from Dresden
" wegen Kriegsziistand." The Dresden postal authorities had
apparently kept these things back as a precautionary measure,
for England did not declare war until five days later. I felt that
my position was becoming gradually uncomfortable, for even
a sedate Hungarian professor was molested by the inhabitants
on suspicion of being a Russian spy and was advised by the
Burgomaster to return home ; so at the end of August I obtained
my passport again and likewise an officially stamped statement
of the time I had spent in the district (in anticipation of any
later inquisition about my personal movements), and then took
train for Berlin.

On the way I noticed that every railway bridge was guarded
by a couple of sentries, for there was an epidemic of fear that the
land was overrun with Russian spies who had bombs in every
pocket to blow up bridges. I therefore expected that all pas-
sengers arriving at the Berlin terminus would be challenged, and
was not a little surprised that I was able to get a taxi and return
to my rooms quite unmolested and unquestioned.

CHAPTER II

MY FIRST IMPRISONMENT

The need of a police permit — Visit to the Police Presidency — Confinement
in " Stadtvogtei " Prison — My cell companions — Furniture and fixtures — New
acquaintances in the prison yard — Scene at the British Consulate — " Skilly "
for supper — Night reflections — " Breakfast " — Fellow-prisoners' stories — A new
arrival — A momentous interview — Release.

THE following morning my landlady informed me that
I had to apply to the police for a permit to stay in Berlin ;
and a Russian friend, who had already enjoyed a few
days' internment in the Doberitz Camp, also impressed upon me
the necessity of securing the permit, otherwise I might be arrested
at any moment. But upon applying at the local police station
I was told that I had been registered as having departed (abge-
meldet) two years ago. Here was a remarkable flaw in the
Prussian police machine ! I had been paying my taxes regularly,
or rather irregularly, for the last two years, and yet according
to the police register I was no longer living in the district. Had
I known that, I might have gone on living in the neighbourhood
unmolested for months afterwards, unless some ultra-patriotic
neighbour denounced me. But as 1 had already decided to move
to another district I should in any case have come into the police
books again. To rectify matters I had to fill up three forms
announcing my fresh arrival in the old district ; a day later,
three more forms announcing my departure ; and on the next
day, three more forms announcing my arrival in the new district.
After this succession of formalities I felt that I had richly earned
my permit, but when I applied at the police station in my new
district I was told that I must make personal application to the
Polizei Presidium (Police Presidency) in the centre of the city.

Accordingly I betook myself the following morning to this
central police station, and on the way, in Unter den Linden,

6

MY FIRST IMPRISONMENT 7

I leisurely inspected the first captured Russian and French guns
which had been brought into Berlin, a few days ago, with a pro-
cession of dust-stained soldiers. After wandering about in the
corridors of che huge rambling building of the Police Presidency
I at last came to a door on which was affixed a label, " Eng-
lander," and I noticed that the adjacent doors were labelled
" Franzosen," " Russen," and " Belgier ' respectively. The
room that I entered was occupied by half a dozen men who
apparently had nothing more serious to do than to bandy jokes
with one another. The man at the head of the table asked me
my business, and when I demanded a permit to stay in Berlin,
he asked me my name, age, and occupation. Upon stating that
I was a journalist, he replied, as though he had made a neat
capture : " Aha ! We shan't let you go ! "

" I don't mind stopping in this country until the war is over,"
I innocently replied, thinking — as most people then thought —
that the whole war would be over within six months, and cherish-
ing a vision of myself as the first English correspondent to send
a wire from Berlin describing the peace celebrations.

" You'll stop right enough," remarked the official, as he
hurriedly wrote out a slip which he gave to a colleague. The
latter, a portly individual, with a gruff voice, said to me : " Come
along with me ! " and I followed.

I began to scent trouble, and as we passed along corridors and
descended flights of stairs, I asked my escort whither he was
taking me.

" You are under arrest ! " he replied.

" Under arrest ? " I echoed. " Why, what have I done ?
Can I not see somebody in authority and explain the position ? '
" You will have an opportunity later on," said the official,
as he led me out of the building across the street into another
building. Presently we came to a little door which was opened
by a prison warder, and before I could recover my breath, the
official handed me over into custody with his written authorisa-
tion, and disappeared. The warder then thrust into my hands
a small bundle of prison laundry — blue-checked sheets, tattered
towel and jagged comb — and bade me follow him upstairs.
We went along the corridor, he unlocked a small cell, and he
bade me enter. For the moment I was quite aghast : it was my
first introduction to a prison cell.

8 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

" Put that jug out for water ! " he said, pointing to a brown
earthenware pitcher in the far corner of the cell.

I took the jug and placed it outside the door, when another
warder, farther along the corridor, called out : " There is room
for another in my cell." So I was transferred to a large cell
where there were already two prisoners ; and the warder, after
saying that I could write whatever letters I liked, bolted and
locked the heavy door upon us.

" What is the meaning of this ? " I asked, as soon as I could
recover from my astonishment.

" It's nothing to get excited about," replied one of the prisoners.
"I've been here over four weeks now, since the 5th of August,
and my friend has been here three weeks."

The speaker was a pale-faced man, of slight build, in the
thirties, who was born in Russia. He had lived for the past
sixteen years in South Africa, where he had become naturalised,
and then, at the end of June, 1914, started on a trip to Europe
in order to visit his mother in Russia. He arrived in Berlin on
August 1st, and could go neither forward nor backward, so
stayed at an hotel in Unter den Linden, where, on the morning
after England's declaration of war, he was arrested. His com-
panion was a young Russian medical student, who had been
attending lectures at the Berlin University, and during the few
weeks of their common captivity they had become close friends.

" Tell me," I asked, " is there nothing to be done to get out
of here ? " — and I glanced disconsolately at the primitive furni-
ture of the cell and the bars outside the thick ribbed window.

' If you have any influential friends in Berlin, write to them
at once," they advised. " Then wait until the military repre-
sentative calls here again, and you can put your case before him.
He was here this morning, but won't be here again till next
Tuesday. So the best thing is to settle down and wait patiently.
But tell us, how long do you think the war will last ? '

" About six months," I hazarded.

' What, six months ! " they cried with alarm. " Why, if we
have to stop here all that time we shall go mad ! "

I sat down on a wooden stool at a long wooden table and gazed
round the cell. It was a clean, bright, white-painted room, with
one window that looked down upon a courtyard. There were two
tiers of two beds each, the entire accommodation being for four

MY FIRST IMPRISONMENT 9

men, and the Russian student, with whom I had to speak German,
generously help :d me to put my bed in order. There were four
small wooden racks affixed to the wall, each of which con-
tained an earthenware bowl for soup, a white mug for coffee, a
plate, spoon, knife, salt cellar, washing-basin, soap, a German
New Testament and Prayer Book, as well as a printed booklet
of prison regulations. There was also a pictorial design showing
the exact relative positions in which all these objects should be
placed, and giving a different position for the mattresses and
bolster for each day of the month. Fortunately, there was a
water-tap and sink in the cell — and an adjoining water-closet.

My fellow-prisoners lent me paper and envelopes, and I
scribbled off some letters to a few friends. Then one of them
pushed a little projecting rod in the wall, I heard a click, and
presently the door was unbolted and unlocked, and the warder
took my letters and withdrew. They explained to me that the
pushing of the little rod caused a small red flag of iron to protrude
outside, and this attracted the warder's attention. The device
was almost as ingenious as an electric bell.

It was midday when I was put into the cell, and as I had
breakfasted at eight o'clock that morning I was hungry. But the
prison " dinner " had already been served at eleven, and the next
meal would not arrive until half-past four. Nor could I order
anything that day from outside, as all such orders had to be given
by nine o'clock. So my fellow-prisoners placed their stock of
bread and cheese at my disposal, which I washed down with cold
water.

At three o'clock I heard the cells in our corridor being un-
locked and unbolted again ; gradually the noise approached our
own cell ; and I felt a sensation of profound relief when the door
was thrown open and I was told we could go down into the
courtyard for an hour's exercise. When I reached the yard I
was surprised at the great number of prisoners who were walking
about, mostly in groups of twos and threes. There were about
a hundred and fifty altogether ; two-thirds Englishmen, the rest
Russians, Frenchmen, and Belgians, and they were mostly
between the ages of twenty and forty. I found among them an
old London fellow-student, who had been a teacher of languages
in Berlin, and who told me that he and most of the Englishmen
had been there since the 5th of August.

10 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

" On the morning after England declared war," he related,
" I went to the British Consulate, where I found a large number
of other Englishmen, in order to get advice about leaving the
country. Suddenly a couple of policemen appeared, drew their
revolvers, declared that we were prisoners of war, and threatened
to shoot any man who attempted to leave. The Consul had left
the night before. Presently a ' Black Maria ' drew up, and we
were removed in it to the Polizei Prasidium, where we were put
through a regular catechism. Those whose answers were satis-
factory were given a written permit to stay in Berlin, and have
to report themselves every three days to the police. The rest
of us were brought here. I have tried to get myself bailed out,
but without success."

I was struck by the cheerful spirits of this little community of
prisoners, who fraternised with one another as though they
formed one big family. Some were playing cards on stools
which they had brought down with them ; others were playing
chess ; some were throwing a ball about ; whilst most of them
were strolling round and round the small quadrangle and chat-
ting in various languages. One or two Russians had already
begun to teach their language in exchange for English. From
the courtyard we could see nothing of the outside world, though
we could distinctly hear the clanging of electric tramcars and the
myriad sounds of the tumultuous traffic, for we were surrounded
by a six-storied building. All that we saw were red brick walls
and barred windows. The prisoners were drawn from various
professions — engineers, chemists, teachers, clerks, jockeys,
students, variety artists — and presented a number of contrasted
types. There was also among them an American negro, who, in
his cups, had wished the Kaiser to a place from where he would
have been unable to direct the military operations.

When the hour was over, a warder, with a huge bunch of keys,
appeared beneath the arch which formed the opening to the
courtyard, and we began to stream leisurely back up the stone
stairs to our respective cells, which were situated on different
floors. As I passed along the corridor I noticed that on each
door there was a slip of paper with the letter E, R, F, or B,
according as the cell contained an Englishman, Russian, French-
man, or Belgian, whilst in the case of cells with several inmates
there was a corresponding figure before the letter. All the

MY FIRST IMPRISONMENT 11

prisoners stood in the doorway of their cell until the warder came
to lock it, so eager were they to enjoy every possible additional
moment of comparative liberty.

Locked in my cell once more, I discussed with my fellow-
prisoners the cases of some of the other men confined in this jail,
and was amazed to hear of the brutality to which some of them
had been exposed before they were brought to the " Stadtvogtei."
' This is a very decent prison," remarked the Russian student.
" You should have been at Moabit or Ploetzensee : you are
treated there like convicts. Here you can get anything you want,
if you pay for it, except your liberty."

Presently the cell-door was opened again, and two convicts,
in dirty blue clothes, under the charge of a warder, brought in a
pail of some whitish soup for our " supper " at half-past four !
I followed the example of my fellow-prisoners and presented my
bowl for a portion. After the warder had locked the door again,
I sat down to my repast, but though I tried to swallow two or
three spoonfuls of the stuff I had to give it up : it was a sticky,
indigestible species of " skilly," which my comrades by dint of
practice succeeded in getting down. For me there was nothing
left but to throw the stuff into a bucket and clean my bowl under
the tap. I then helped myself to more bread and cheese, washed
down again with water.

We spent the evening, partly in discussing one another's
prospects of liberation, and partly in playing draughts. We had
neither draughtboard nor pieces, but the Russian student, who
smoked cigarettes incessantly, quickly designed a board on the
inside cover of an exercise-book, and we made pieces out of a
cardboard cigarette-box. The South African was very restless
and depressed, strutting up and down the cell with downcast
chin and hands in his pockets, and jumping up every now and
again on to his bed, on which he sat with dangling legs and
speculated how long the war would last.

We had an electric light in our room and were allowed to enjoy
the benefit of it until nine o'clock. But five minutes before that
hour we had all got into our respective beds, awaiting the foot-
step of the warder who switched off the light. We continued
talking for some time until my comrades fell asleep, but I re-
mained awake for hours. I occupied a lower bed, and the mattress
was as hard as the table. I kept tossing from side to side, wonder-

12 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

ing how long it might be my fate to remain in that prison, and
reproaching myself for not having tried in the early days to escape
from Schandau across the Austrian frontier — a journey of only
fifteen minutes by rail — before war was declared between England
and Austria. Throughout the night I heard the slow, stealthy
pacing of the warder in the corridor, and felt a peculiar sensation
whenever he stopped at our door, lifted the disc over the peep-
hole, and peered into the darkness of our cell.

The following morning, at half-past six, our door was unlocked
again, and we rose and washed. Half an hour later a couple of
Polish convicts brought in a pail of brownish liquid, which they
called "kawa" (coffee), and another came with a basket containing
chunks of brown bread, or "chleb," as he called it. I found it
difficult to believe that the liquid was coffee, for there was not
even the most remote family resemblance. I could detect no
milk and trace no sugar. But it was something hot, and one was
grateful even for that. Then a warder came round to take
orders, and I put myself down for some butter, cheese, sausage,
and beer, besides a shilling dinner from a neighbouring restaurant.

At nine o'clock we again trooped out of our cells down into
the yard, where I extended my acquaintance with my fellow-
prisoners. Some told me that they had originally possessed the
police permit to live in Berlin, but had omitted one day to report
themselves at the police station, and were arrested the following
morning while in bed. Others had been denounced by German
neighbours or fellow-lodgers as spies. There was a Russian
student who had once been released from this prison ; but in
an unguarded moment he said something indiscreet to his land-
lady and her daughter, with the result that an hour later two
police officials arrested him in his room, placed him in a dark
cell overnight in a local prison, and then brought him back to
the " Stadtvogtei." He went about in deadly fear lest he might
be shot, and we tried to assure him that he would not have been
placed in our midst if he were doomed to such a fate.

Soon after we were back again in our cell the warder brought
a big basket with our orders, and ticked off the articles on his
list as he handed them out. We paid him a little beyond the
due amount, and I calculated that he must be making quite a
respectable income out of tips.

Presently the door was unlocked again, and a young fellow

MY FIRST IMPRISONMENT 13

of twenty was brought in, astonished and protesting. ' This is
scandalous ! " he exclaimed. " I simply went to get a police
permit to stop in Berlin, and they shove me in here. Did you
ever hear of anything so annoying ? "

I told him that I did know of something equally annoying —
my own unexpected imprisonment, and advised him to com-
municate with his friends or relatives. So he at once sent off
a letter to his uncle, in whose large business-house he was em-
ployed. Having already been in the jail twenty-four hours I
felt like an old stager, and initiated the youngster into the
various arrangements and regulations ; and when he had com-
pletely recovered from his surprise he pulled out a pack of cards
and began to perform a number of tricks. The restaurant dinner
of three courses, which I soon received, was very welcome after
the frugal fare on which I had been living, although the soup was
quite cold.

The hours dragged on like days, the days like weeks. On the
evening of the day after his arrival our young friend was released.
We were engaged in a quiet game of " vingt et un" when suddenly
the heavy bolts were pushed aside, the door was unlocked, and
the head warder, with grizzled beard, beckoned in the direction
of the youngster and said : " The hour has struck. You are
free."

" Hurrah ! " exclaimed the youth. " By Jove, won't I go on
the razzle-dazzle to-night ! "

We wished him luck and he vanished. " His uncle must have
some influence," remarked the Russian student.

At length the morning arrived when the representative of the
Royal Prussian War Office paid his visit to the prison, to listen
to personal petitions for release. I was told that he could only
see about twelve or fifteen men each time, as his stay was limited,
and it was therefore advisable to get as near as possible to the
top of the line of waiting applicants. Fortunately, I secured an
early place, and I waited impatiently and hopefully.

"He's in a good temper this morning," was the cheering
message that 1 heard from the lips of a prisoner just liberated.

My turn came, and I entered a small room, in which was seated
a military officer, clean-shaven and ascetic-looking, with high
red collar and shining brass buttons on his blue tunic. He bowed
slightly as he beckoned me to a chair.

14 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

" What have you to say ? " he asked, gazing at me with his
grey, searching eyes. " You know that in England all Germans
of military age are prisoners."

I put my case as well as I could — urging that England had no
conscription, that if I had remained at Schandau I should have
been left at liberty, and that some friends of mine on the staff
of the Berlin University could testify to my good behaviour.
I also produced a reader's card of the Royal Prussian Library —
the " British Museum " of Berlin — and a letter from my American
publisher, as proof of my literary activity and harmless character.
He fumbled among his papers, and then, after some hesitation,
said : " We are rather strict with Englishmen, but I shall let
you go this time. But don't say anything about it outside, or
you may find yourself here again. I shall give you a permit
with which you must go straight to the police station in your
district, and then you must present yourself there with it every
third day."

A clerk at his side filled out the permit for me, and as I took
the precious document the officer remarked : " Good luck, and
be careful ! " He turned to listen to the application of a Russian
feuilletonist, and I passed out through the opposite door. A
warder examined my permit and showed me down the stairs into
the street, and as I slipped a coin into his palm I drew a deep
breath of relief. The following day all who were still in the
prison were transferred to the Ruhleben Concentration Camp.

CHAPTER III

AT LIBERTY IN BERLIN

Reporting to the police — The War atmosphere — Gaiety in the West End —
Inspired newspapers — Celebration of victories — Children's holidays and war-
games — Visits to the Grunewald — Calls at the American Embassy — Offices of
British Relief Fund raided — A foreknowledge of Ruhleben — The American
Church Library — Mental effects of reporting to police — Premonitions of intern-
ment — Agitation by the press — Announcement of an ultimatum.

MY four days' imprisonment had made a profound im-
pression upon me. It was the most singular adventure
that I had ever experienced, and I relished my newly
gained liberty so keenly that I felt inclined to ask the staid old
gentleman who sat next to me in the tram that bore me home-
wards whether he had ever been in prison too, and how he had
liked to be at liberty again. But the parting warning of the
military officer acted as a curb upon my loquacity, and I kept
my secret to myself. Before returning to my lodgings I called
at the police local station and presented my domicile permit.

" It has taken you some time to get this," said the police
official, as he entered my name and address into a special book
and stamped the document on the back with the date.

" I had to wait," I replied significantly.

He hummed in response. " Well, every third day now."

He returned me the permit and I felt as happy as if the freedom
of the city had been conferred upon me. I informed my landlady
that I had been staying with a friend, but she looked rather
dubious about the explanation of my absence, and said it was
no business of hers where I had been, so long as she could keep
her flat respectable.

For the next two months I was free, but it was only a relative
freedom that I enjoyed, for I had to present myself every third
day, like a " ticket-of-leave," at the police station, and I could
not leave Berlin even for a neighbouring city. Thanks to a friend

15

16 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

in Holland I got into communication for the first time with my
relatives in England, but I breathed no word of the hospitality
I had enjoyed at the hands of the Berlin Municipality. Unable
to engage in any journalistic activity, and afraid that anything I
might write would one day be seized by the police with a view to
discover my political views, I decided to give my pen a rest.
But fortunately I received some translation work of a non-
political character to do, and I was thus able to use part of my
leisure in a profitable manner. The rest of my time I devoted
to reading and to a careful study of the German papers ; but I
was unable to continue reading at the Royal Prussian Library,
as that was closed to all Germany's enemies.

Berlin in those months made upon me the impression of a city
that was thoroughly confident of a German victory. The trium-
phal entry of the Kaiser at the head of his troops into Paris by
Christmas, 1914, was generally predicted as a certainty ; but I
studiously refrained from discussing the situation with my
neighbours, as I knew that their views simply reflected the con-
tents of the newspapers, and I did not want my own views to
get me into further trouble. The lower middle classes and the
poor were already faced with the difficulty of making ends meet,
for although everything could then be obtained, prices had
already risen a little, while wages had sunk a great deal, and
thus cheap soup-kitchens and restaurants had to be opened,
where the needy could obtain a nourishing meal for fourpence.
There was also a free tea-room opened in the Exhibition Halls
near the Zoological Gardens ; it was intended for students,
artists, and journalists, of whom there was a big colony in the
neighbourhood, and who could get there a cup of tea and biscuits,
read the current periodicals, and write ; but the place became
uncomfortably crowded when typists secured admittance as
journalists, and artists' models as artists.

But for the most part Berlin wore the same aspect as in days
of peace. True, all the notorious haunts of pleasure in the
vicinity of Friedrich Strasse were closed, and most of their gay
frequenters were interned in houses of detention where they
were employed upon useful work. But though the heart of the
city became more sober and quiet, the appearance of the West
End, of Charlottenburg, the Tauentzien Strasse, and Kurfiir-
stendamm, with the usual evening procession of well-dressed

AT LIBERTY IN BERLIN 17

flaneurs, and " demi-mondaines," and " semi-demi-mondaines,"
changed but little, except for a more liberal sprinkling of officers
and soldiers in " field-grey," together with some wounded
warriors who limped along with ashen faces. The theatres,
music-halls, and cinema palaces were as crowded as ever they
were before ; the restaurants and cafes were just as well stocked
with things to consume and people to consume them ; and the
orchestras were just as industrious in churning out Viennese
waltzes, without too frequent alternations in the form of patriotic
melodies. I witnessed an amusing revue at the Palast Theater
am Zoo, in which the early days of the war were merrily mir-
rored, and each of Germany's enemies, before their respective
declarations, was lauded as a friend and then damned as an
enemy ; and in which the rotund hero escaped from his hen-
pecking wife by joining the army : a performance that naturally
concluded with a grand patriotic demonstration.

So far as news about the war was concerned I was wholly
confined to the German press, for although anxious to study the
situation through English spectacles, I was not disposed to pay
a mark for a single copy of The Times, the prohibitive price that
was demanded, nor was I disposed to make myself a suspect by
calling for an English paper in a well-frequented cafe. The
channels of intelligence to which I was limited coloured my view
to some extent, for how was one to know, or who could suspect,
that the various diplomatic documents from the Belgian Govern-
ment archives, which the German authorities published from
time to time in vindication of their policy, were not perfectly
genuine ? I can well understand why the German people, at
that time and for many months afterwards, had absolute con-
fidence in their ultimate victory, for their papers — strictly con-
trolled and carefully censored — told them of nothing but German
triumphs, and the war map confirmed these glowing reports, un-
clouded as yet by the British blockade. Frequent were the
demonstrations of joy at the capture of 50,000 Russians, or
20,000 Frenchmen, or 10,000 Englishmen. Frantic speeches
were delivered in Potsdamer Platz (where Liebknecht was after-
wards arrested) by white-haired old gentlemen who had fought
in '66 and '70. Military officers in cafes were toasted and treated
by utter strangers, and the orchestra would follow up some vapid
operatic melody with the thunderous strains of "Die Wacht am

18 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Rhein," in which the whole assembly — men, women, and children
— would solemnly join.

The people were well supplied with papers, for in addition to
the usual publications of the week, there were even on Sundays
midday and evening papers besides the morning editions with
their multifold supplements. Victories were celebrated by a
joyous display of German and Austro-Hungarian flags, fluttering
over public buildings and suspended from private windows,
whilst in humble by-streets ropes with flags and bunting were
slung across the road. The happiest merry-makers were the
children, who were always given a holiday to rejoice at some
great discomfiture of the enemy. During the two months that
I spent in Berlin, between my imprisonment and my internment,
there must have been at least a dozen of such holidays, ordained
by the Prussian Ministry of Education. The children came to
the school in the morning, listened to an address by the head-
master upon the significance of the latest victory, sang the
National Anthem with gusto, and were then dismissed for the
rest of the day. They spent most of their holiday in playing at
soldiers : armed with a wooden sword, and wearing a cricket belt
and a paper helmet, they would go through a regular drill, four
in a row, in the middle of the road, and then march to the martial
tattoo of a toy drum, until they met another ragged urchin army,
which they designated the enemy and promptly attacked. These
children showed the imitative instinct in a very marked degree,
for they would lie flat on the ground, four in a row, and make
a pretence of shooting with their dummy guns at some passing
milk-cart, as though it were an armoured train. But children
of older years, boys of fourteen and upwards, were taken by their
teachers to the forest on the west of Berlin, the Grunewald, where
they were taught drilling and scouting. Many an afternoon, as I
sat in a garden cafe, where spectacled matrons knitted grey socks
for the field-grey warriors at the front, I would watch these
youngsters in their coloured caps, many of them taller than their
anaemic teachers, as they played at warlike exercises ; and I
wonder now how many of them have since been promoted to the
real operations of war — and survived them. In one of my rambles
through the Grunewald I came across a captive French officer in
the charge of a German officer : he was pale and walked with a
slow step, and probably belonged to a military hospital in the

AT LIBERTY IN BERLIN 19

neighbourhood ; but as I was an alien enemy, and afraid that
I had technically trespassed beyond the bounds of Berlin, I
thought discretion the better part of curiosity and asked no
questions. But in the days before trains and trams were plastered
with notices about the " Danger of Spies " I often entered into
conversation with wounded soldiers in the street or in the over-
head electric railway, and they were candid enough to tell me
that they owed their wounds to British bullets, and hoped that
it would be months before they were well enough to be sent back
to the slaughter.

Once a week I went down to the American Embassy in the
Wilhelm Platz to see if there was any news, and there, or rather
on the pavement opposite the entrance to the Embassy, I met
a little colony of Englishmen and a few Englishwomen, who used
to assemble every morning to discuss their plight and the pros-
pects of the war. The Embassy had already begun to advise all
Englishwomen to leave the country as soon as possible, but there
was only one train a month for Holland, on the 6th, and many
were the messages given to the happy women on the eve of their
departure. On one of* my visits to the Wilhelm Platz (at the end
of September, so far as I remember) I heard of the raid made
one evening by the German police upon the offices of the British
Relief Fund, when the principal officials were arrested and all
the books and papers were confiscated. The two leading officials
were placed in solitary confinement in the Moabit prison, and
after four months were transferred to Ruhleben, where I met
them. The work of British relief was then taken over by the
American Embassy. For a short time we were also able to for-
ward letters to England through the Embassy, but the German
Government objected that this was a violation of neutrality,
and so we were soon deprived of the facility.

For the first time after many, many weeks, I also saw a Times
again, openly displayed and discussed by my fellow-Englishmen
in the Wilhelm Platz, who little feared the intervention of the
policeman prowling in the square, as he certainly could not
distinguish the publication of Printing House Square from the
Continental Times sold at the doorway of the American Embassy,
the willing mouthpiece of the Kaiser's Government, which paid
the piper and called for the tune. On one occasion I also met at
the Embassy an English civilian prisoner from Ruhleben, whom

20 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

I had known at the Stadtvogtei Prison, and who was given a
day's furlough in charge of a soldier, to discharge some private
business. It was from him that I heard the first account of the
conditions at the Ruhleben Camp, and his story certainly did
not prepossess me in favour of it. He told us that we could see
the Camp if we cared to visit him there, but with all our sym-
pathy for him we were not disposed to put our head into the
lion's den, especially as it was a moot point whether Ruhleben
was not beyond the borders of Berlin.

There was only one other place in those days where I heard
English spoken, though in a somewhat different accent. That
was the Reading Room attached to the American Church, in
the Motz Strasse. There I could read the leading American
daily and weekly papers, but they were generally three weeks
old, and there was little profit in studying stale descriptions of
the military situation that had since been reversed. I neverthe-
less enjoyed the perusal of such papers as The Outlook and The
Literary Digest, and even to hear the other readers — mostly
matronly ladies and their daughters — gossip with one another
was something to relieve the day's monotony, though the burden
of the conversation was generally a complaint at the long delay
of the mails from home, and a feeling of disgust with the President
for not sending the weekly mails on an American warship.

Throughout this period I diligently and punctually called at
the local police station, produced my permit, and received it
again with the date stamped on the back. Not a word passed
between me and the police official, who sat at a desk protected
by a low wooden railing, which prevented visitors from approach-
ing too near. To be quite accurate, I said " Gut' Morgen " as I
entered the office, and the official, as he took my paper, mechani-
cally responded without looking up ; but as a rule no words
relating to my status or to the purpose of my visit were ex-
changed. And I no sooner left the office than I reckoned out on
what day my next visit would take place, and the name of that
day would loom large and all-important in my mind for the
ensuing seventy-two hours. It became a perfect obsession : it
flitted through all my thoughts, dominated all my plans, and
even penetrated my dreams. It was my last thought when I
retired to bed, and my first when I awoke in the morning. I was
always in dread of a misreckoning. I sometimes fancied that I

AT LIBERTY IN BERLIN 21

had allowed three whole days to pass without calling at the
station, and that the following morning would be the fourth
since my last visit, and a cold sweat crept over me as I fumbled
for my permit and noted the last date, and a sigh of relief escaped
me when I found that I was still on the right side of the calendar,
and that there was no need to fear arrest for failure to report
on the right morning.

But from the middle of October I began to feel uneasy. One
morning the police official asked me how long I had lived in
Germany before the war, whether I had lived in any other town
before Berlin, what my occupation was, my age, and kindred
questions, and as he noted down my replies I felt that these were
required for something more than statistical purposes. Another
morning he asked me more definitely whether I was doing any
work and who was my employer, and I gently explained that the
nature of my profession condemned me to be unemployed until
the end of the war, whereat he was visibly pleased. But as I left
him and reflected on the significance of his questions, I felt more
and more that there was some further measure of restriction
impending. A German friend endeavoured to reassure me by
explaining that there was a growing ill-feeling against English-
men who were taking jobs vacated by Germans called to the
colours ; that the Government wished to ascertain to what
extent this complaint was well-founded ; and that as I was not
personally concerned I need not fear any reprisal. I then made
the acquaintance of another Englishman, who used to report at
the same police station, and if I met him as he came out I would
ask whether any further questions had been put to him.

The horizon gradually darkened. Disquieting stories began to
appear in the daily press of the arrest and internment in England
of Germans of military age. Harrowing descriptions were given
of inhuman conditions in Newbury Camp. And then Dr. Carl
Peters, who had taken refuge in England while exposing the
abuses in Germany's African colonies, returned to the Fatherland
and made atonement by writing venomous attacks on England's
treatment of his brethren. Even the Liberal papers, the Berliner
Tageblatt and the Frankfurter Zeiiung, which had hitherto main-
tained that English civilians in Germany had nothing to fear,
as the war was conducted only against their country, began to
yield to the popular clamour and declared that if the stories about

22 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Germans in England proved to be true, it would only be right
to adopt similar measures against Englishmen in Germany, in
order to bring home to their Government the heinousness of their
deeds. Prompt action was demanded by the semi-official Ber-
liner Lokal-Anzeiger, and the cry was taken up by the press in
various cities, in Hamburg and Dresden, Leipzig and Munich.
At length on October 26th the newspapers published an official
statement that the German Government had addressed an ulti-
matum to England, that unless the interned Germans were re-
leased by November 5th all the Englishmen in Germany would
be arrested and interned. My first impression was that this
threat would be carried out ; my second, that it was merely
bluff ; my third, that the British Government would yield and
everything would end happily.

I discussed the situation with my English friends on the
Wilhelm Platz and found that their views were greatly varied.
A few were rather timid about the prospect, but most of them
made light of the situation and said that if we were interned we
should at least be able to keep one another company. A variety
artist who was in the group said that he had already packed up,
that when the policeman called he would find him ready, sitting
on the bed, and that in his best German he would offer the official
twopence to carry his portmanteau. The inquiries we made at
the American Embassy, as late as November 4th, elicited rather
reassuring answers, and even the police stations had not yet
received news of any proposed action. But my fellow-Englishmen
were sceptical and resolved to have a good time whilst they were
yet free ; not one of them thought of escaping, for they regarded
the chances of success as remote ; and realising that it was best
not to be taken unawares, 1 made some half-hearted preparations
on the night of the 5th.

CHAPTER IV

THE ACT OF INTERNMENT

An unpleasant awakening — My anxious landlady — The official order — Pack-
ing up — Escorted to the police station — Comrades in distress — " Stadtvogtei "
again — The plaintive warder — " Line up in fours ! " — En route for Ruhleben.

j4 T seven o'clock on Friday morning, November 6th,

I \ 1914, just as I thought of turning over on the other side,
A. jL there was a ring at the front door, and shortly after-
wards there was a knock at my door. I knew that my hour had
come. Instead of turning over on the other side I had to turn
out of bed, and when I opened the door my grey-haired landlady,
in tremulous tones, told me that a gentleman wished to see me.
I knew that gentleman : I had been expecting him.

" Gut' Morgen," said the mild-mannered, round-bellied,
chubby-faced, blond-moustached gentleman, as he entered my
room. " I am very sorry, but you probably know why I have
come."

" The Englishmen are to be interned ? " I said.

" Yes," he replied, apparently pleased at my knowledge.
" I have first to take you to the police station in the neighbour-
hood. So get yourself ready, but there is no great hurry."

I offered my visitor a cigar, which he took without any pre-
tence of wounded dignity, and then I seated him in the hall,
where my landlady gave him a cup of coffee. I leisurely pro-
ceeded with my toilet and packing, and then sat down to a frugal
breakfast, which was brought in by the old lady, who was trem-
bling in every limb.

" May you see the papers ? " she asked, as she produced the
morning's papers from underneath her apron. She thought that
the restrictions on my liberty had already begun. " Oh, it's
terrible, terrible ! " she whined.

23

24 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

I quickly glanced through the papers and found the official
announcement respecting the order of internment. The measure
was declared to be an act of reprisal for England's internment
of German subjects. All British subjects between the ages of
seventeen and fifty-five, throughout the German Empire, were
to be arrested by the local police and transported under either
police or military escort to the Concentration Camp on the
Ruhleben Racecourse. Only those persons were to be exempted
from arrest who could produce a certificate from an official
doctor that they were too ill to be transported ; but their exemp-
tion was to cease with the cessation of their illness. The order
was to be enforced, in the first place, only against natives of the
United Kingdom ; but should it be found subsequently that
Germans were also interned in the British colonies, then the
natives of those colonies would also be interned. All British
subjects who were still allowed to remain at liberty must report
to the police twice a day, and must not leave their dwellings
between eight o'clock at night and seven o'clock in the morning.

Whilst I was studying these regulations, my visitor became
rather impatient and came into the room again, so I gave him
another cigar to curb his zeal, although his first one was scarcely
burned beyond the middle. Then producing a slip of paper
from his pocket, on which were written some notes, he advised
me to provide myself with a blanket, pillow, and bed-sheet, as
well as with toilet requisites. My landlady made a parcel of the
bedding, and whimpered all the time : " Es ist schrecklich I '
partly, I suppose, out of an exaggerated fear of what was going
to happen to me, and partly, no doubt, because she was losing
a good lodger. But the Criminal-Beamte, or police-detective,
for such my visitor was, tried to console her by saying that I
might be released again at the police station, or after a few days.
I entertained no hopes, however, of such early liberation, and
as I put some books and writing material into my hand-bag I had
a presentiment that it would be a long time before I should be
able to call myself a free man again. I cast a final glance around
my room and have never seen it again.

There were few people in the street as we made our way to the
local police station, which was hardly a quarter of a mile away.
" You have only your own Government to thank for this,"
remarked the detective, " and sensible people will realise it."

THE ACT OF INTERNMENT 25

Such was the refrain that I repeatedly heard from the mouths
of German officials for months later. At a discreet distance
behind us tripped the servant-girl with the parcel of bedding.
We excited no attention, and nobody suspected my melancholy
destination.

On arriving at the police station I found a dozen Englishmen
already waiting in an inner room, with their bags, portmanteaux,
and parcels grouped around them. They sat somewhat stolidly,
hardly exchanging a word with one another, as though waiting
to consult a doctor or to interview a large employer of labour.
I was the last Englishman in the district to arrive, and soon
afterwards the Police Lieutenant called out our names, and
proceeded to fill up forms with particulars as to our age, occupa-
tion, place of birth, and family affiliations. One man declared
that he was a Boer, and produced a birth-certificate in proof of
the statement, whereupon he was immediately set free. The
rest of us were all natives of the United Kingdom, so we had to
await further developments. The Police Lieutenant, a slim and
spruce officer of military bearing, with a grey moustache and
reddish nose, told us that we should first be removed to the
" Stadtvogtei ' Prison, and suggested that we should ride in
closed taxi cabs, of which we should bear the joint expense.
We approved of the suggestion as the best under the circum-
stances, and before long there drew up four vehicles in front of
the station, and into each vehicle there stepped three prisoners
and a burly policeman, with his revolver conspicuously hanging
from his belt. As the procession of " taxis " started on its journey
a little crowd gathered round, but there were no comments of
any kind, and soon we were speeding into the heart of Berlin,
to the prison from which I had been released two months before.

We found quite a long line of " taxis " in front of us, as though
we were all going to some great municipal reception, and when
at length we were able to alight and to pass within the grim walls
of the jail, the warders who had previously received tokens of
my good- will recognized me and greeted me as an old friend.
We were marched up flights of stairs and along corridors, but
though, like experienced convicts, we asked for " Gemeinschajts-
Zellen '" (company cells) we were each put into separate cells,
and the iron door was locked and bolted upon us. My cell had
a capacity of only thirteen cubic metres, and as it was too narrow

26 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

for the bed and the little table, which were secured to opposite
walls, to rest on the floor simultaneously, the bed was hung up
against the wall and I sat on a little wooden stool. 1 tried to kill
time by reading the newspapers and the little book of prison
regulations, which set forth in punctilious detail the daily wage
that was paid to convicts for making paper-bags or umbrella-
sheaths, and also a graduated series of penalties for different
degrees of misconduct. As it was already past midday and my
breakfast had been anything but substantial, I put out the flag
in order to inquire of the responding warder whether I could get
anything to eat.

" You ought to have come earlier," was his business-like
reply, as though I had come into a boarding-house with meal-
times fixed by the laws of the Medes and Persians.

" But can't you get me something ? " I asked.

" Very sorry," returned the warder. " No time. Very busy.
Diese verdammte Internierung ! One has no rest at all ! ' And
he looked at me sadly as though beseeching my pity.

" Tell me at least how long we shall have to wait here," I
urged.

" Do you think I am the Governor, or that I shall risk my place,
by asking such questions ? No, my friend. Geduld ! It can't
be very long : there are only twenty-four hours in the day."
Without further ado he banged, locked, and rebolted the door
again.

Time dragged on wearily. I kept my ears alert for every
sound, for any signal or suggestion of our departure. At last,
soon after one o'clock, I began to hear the distant click made by
the opening of doors, the shuffling of feet, and the buzz of voices
broken in on now and again by a strident command in German.
Gradually the welcome sound of the opening of doors came
nearer and nearer, the sharp click became louder, until at length
my own door opened.

" Heraus mil Gepdck ! " (Out with luggage !) bawled the warder,
as he strode on to the next cell.

With hand-bag and umbrella in one hand, and my parcel of
bedding in the other, I hurried along the corridor, behind a long
line of fellow-prisoners all carrying their baggage. As we
descended the iron staircase, which reminded one very much of
a staircase on a ship, there was a momentary block, and a wag

THE ACT OF INTERNMENT 27

called out : " First, to the right ; second, to the left ! " — which
evoked a peal of laughter among the struggling crowd. All the
Englishmen in Berlin liable to internment had apparently now
been gathered into this prison clearing house, and we were to
be transported in a body to the Ruhleben Camp.

As soon as we reached the main door opening out into the
street we found an imposing array of big burly policemen, all
armed with revolvers at their belts, lined up on either side, and
right along the street, while a force of mounted police were
stationed on the outskirts to keep the crowd back.

" Zu vieren antreten ! " (Line up in fours) was the command
bawled at us from every side : a command that I had to hear
with sickening iteration for the next nineteen months. We
quickly formed up in fours, our hands burdened with luggage ;
and with scarcely any delay, for the traffic in the main road was
held up, we set out on our melancholy march. The police on
either side of us yelled at us to keep in line and in step, which was
no easy thing to do, with our bags and portmanteaux jostling
one another sideways, in front, and behind. If any man made
a sign of resting his baggage on the ground, or wished to change
hands, the policeman nearest to him yelled : " Englische Schweine-
hunde ! nicht stehen bleiben ! " Those who had a hand free
naturally helped their neighbour, but such cases were few. One
stalwart Englishman carried a cabin-trunk on his shoulder, but
after struggling along with it for fifty yards he had to rest it on
the ground for a moment and straightway received a blow in the
back from the clenched fist of a bullock-headed policeman. The
man turned round with flashing eyes, but we urged him to keep
his temper, or worse might happen. He shouldered his trunk
again and struggled along without a halt. The crowd that was
lined up on either side was remarkably undemonstrative, but
among the onlookers were the weeping wives or mothers of some
of the prisoners who were domiciled in Berlin.

Our march was continued only as far as the Alexander Platz
station of the City Railway, which we reached in less than ten
minutes, and there we boarded the special trains that were
waiting to bear us on our final journey. We were not allowed
to pick or choose compartments, but were bundled into them
with scant ceremony, and a couple of policemen travelled in
every compartment. We cast many a yearning glance at the

28 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

streets below us as the train sped on, through the city quarters
and then past the spacious thoroughfares of Charlottenburg,
and we felt the fetters tightening about us. In little more than
half an hour our train drew up outside the Ruhleben Racecourse.
The station that served as our terminus is known as the Emi-
grants' Railway Station (Auswanderer Bahnhof), as all the trains
with Russian, Polish, and Rumanian emigrants, that in peace
times travelled to Hamburg or Bremen, first discharged their
freight at this station for the purpose of bathing and disinfection.
Again we lined up in fours ; again the big-bellied policemen
swaggered along on our flanks, alternately yelling and swearing.
We trudged along a country road that was furrowed with the
ruts of cart-wheels, but fortunately the day was dry, otherwise
we should have had to wade through a pool of mud. The only
onlookers were the few sentries stationed outside the Camp, who
gazed at us curiously from beneath their spiked helmets, and
doubtless felt a sense of growing importance as they beheld our
lengthening line. Presently we came to a big wooden gate,
which swung open, and above it, on the cross-bar, was the
legend " Trabrennbahn, Ruhleben." It was a trotting course :
my new home for the next nineteen months.

CHAPTER V

RULES, REGIMEN, AND RUMOURS

Welcome to the Prison Camp — At home in a horse-box — Meeting with old
friends — My box-mates — " Aufstehen ! " — The morning wash — The march for
coffee — Regulations — Drafting petitions — Our officers — The Baron — Dinner
and its fate — A succession of arrivals — Priority of internment by Germany —
The detained seamen — Makeshift dormitories — Invalid and aged prisoners —
Selection of captains — Rumours of release.

WE marched into the compound, which was occupied
by large red-brick stables, and as I was in the first
contingent that entered we drew up, still four deep,
in front of Stable i. The Acting Commandant, with his staff,
all in grey uniforms and brown leggings, advanced to meet us,
and a wary exchange of glances took place. The Commandant
welcomed us in a brief speech in which he said that we had only
to thank our own Government for our internment, and that
if we complied with the regulations we should have no reason
to complain of harshness. Then, leaving our baggage on the
ground, we were marched in dozens to a table near the entrance-
gate, where we had to fill in slips with our name, age, occupation,
religion, last address, and number of years resident in Germany.
Some of us made merry over the process, which enraged the
sergeant, who bawled out : " Hold your jaws ! This is no joke ! "
But the Commandant reproved him : " Not so rough ! They are
not criminals."

We returned to our baggage and were kept waiting a long time
until all in our contingent, about two hundred and fifty, had
filled in their slips. Then we were counted by two soldiers, one
of whom went in front and the other behind us. A rumour — the
first of innumerable rumours that tormented us during our in-
ternment — quickly went round that we were going to be searched
and that we would be deprived of our money, and many a man

29

30 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

immediately slipped notes and coin into his socks ; but apart
from a perfunctory glance at some of our opened bags, from
which nothing was taken, there was neither search nor confisca-
tion. As further batches of prisoners were arriving the Com-
mandant began to introduce us to our quarters. He ordered
those who were respectably dressed, and the older men, to go
into the " ground floor " of the barracks, four men to each horse-
box, and when all the boxes were filled the rest had to mount the
narrow wooden staircases, of which there was one at each end
and one in the middle, and to select a position in the hay-loft.
The horse-boxes contained four military beds — two beds super-
imposed on each other on either side — a small wooden table, and
four chairs. That was the entire furniture, but it was a luxurious
arrangement in comparison with that to which I was later con-
demned. The hay-loft contained nothing but a thick layer of
straw, upon which the men had to arrange themselves as com-
fortably as possible. Presently we were all called out again,
again lined up in fours, and again counted by a couple of soldiers,
who checked one another before and behind us. Then we were
each given a military blanket, a towel, and a pewter bowl. These
formed the entire equipment provided by the authorities, and
they all showed signs of having been in prolonged use before.
The towel was of very tough fabric, and the pewter bowl
— which was to serve me for all my meals and dishes — had
been dented, scraped, and scratched by many a ravenous
soldier.

It was not until half-past four that all the preliminary formali-
ties were over and we were free to roam about at our own sweet
will. We were given nothing to eat the whole time, and after
all the excitement and fatigue of the day I was famishing. Fortu-
nately I came across some friends who had already been installed
in the Camp for the past two months, and who gave me some
bread and cheese. They had been transferred to Ruhleben from
the " Stadtvogtei " Prison on the very day after my release,
and had spent a wearisome and wretched time, subjected to the
caprices of common soldiers who exercised unceasing vigilance
over them and would not allow them to rest for a moment in
their boxes during the day. At first they were taken for walks
into the neighbouring woods, the Grunewald, but as the Com-
mandant was informed that the militarjr escorts made a halt at

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RULES, REGIMEN AND RUMOURS SI

I every beer restaurant the excursions were stopped. They knew
that they would soon be able to welcome a large party of fellow-
Englishmen, not from the newspapers but from the fact that
they had been made to carry the heavy iron bedsteads for us
through the streets from Charlottenburg, a distance of about
three miles. This was not only a cruel and humiliating task,
under which many of the weaker men broke down, but it was
also quite unnecessary, as the beds could have been sent by
train to the siding opposite to the camp.

The men who arrived in the course of that first afternoon
quickly made friends with one another, abandoning all con-
ventionality, and freely exchanging experiences, sentiments, and
hopes. As I walked about the compound, passing from one
group to the other, and listening to a multitude of stories and
adventures, I confess that I was momentarily tickled by the
novelty of the situation ; but when I spoke to the men who had
already been there two months and noticed how dejected they
were, I recoiled at the thought of having to spend the winter
in that miserable encampment. At sunset the compound was
illuminated by electric arc-lights, and the standard opposite
the offices of the Military Administration was surrounded by a
gossiping crowd, which vividly reminded me of the crowds of
debaters and onlookers at Marble Arch. The evening sped
quickly. At half -past eight we had all to be in our horse-boxes
or hay-lofts ; at a quarter to nine we had to be in bed ; and at
nine the lights were turned out. My box-mates were a fellow-
Mancunian, a Welshman, and the young fellow who had tem-
porarily shared a cell with me at the Stadtvogtei Prison two
months before. Before we got into our respective beds we tested
their stability and security, as those occupying the lower berths
had no desire to be smothered or bruised by the upper bed
slipping out of its socket. Although all fatigued, we went on
talking for quite a considerable time, and if there is anything
that mitigates the hardship of internment it is certainly the
comradeship that is quickly established and the ever-present
opportunity for conversation. We tried to make light of our
situation. We laughed at the idea of living in a stable, thought
what fine muscles we would develop in sliding the ponderous
iron door a hundred times a day, wondered what interesting
acquaintances we would make, congratulated ourselves upon

32 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

being free from rent and taxes, and then speculated upon the
hardships we might yet have to endure.

At half-past six the following morning one of the German
soldiers in charge of the barrack, as the stable was officially
termed, clattered through the stone passage in his hob-nailed top
boots and called out : " Aufstehen ! " (Get up), and soon there
was a very busy and animated, but anything but agreeable,
scene. There were hardly more than a score of tin washing-
basins provided for two hundred and fifty men and there was
only one tap from which to get water. The result was a pande-
monium. Every man who had succeeded in getting a basin full
of water and placing it on a chair outside his box was immediately
surrounded by half a dozen others, each ready to clutch the
precious vessel as soon as the first man had finished spluttering
and splashing. Soap was at a premium, for none was provided
by the military authorities, and many men forgot to bring some ]
with them.

Our ablutions were scarcely over when the soldiers called out :
" Antreten zum Kaffee holen ! ' (Line up to fetch coffee), and
we lined up in fours with our pewter bowls. Then we marched
through a gateway at which a sentry was posted, past the rear
of the grandstands of the race-course, to the kitchen, where we
defiled past huge steaming cauldrons, from which fellow-prisoners,
with long ladles, baled some dark liquid into our bowls. We
marched back in that raw November morning, warming our
hands against the bowl, from which we spilled a good portion on
the six minutes' journey back to our horse-boxes. The taste
of the beverage was repulsive : it was innocent of milk and
sugar, but it was something hot, and we gulped as much of it
down as we could stomach. We were also given a slab of dark
brown bread, which had to last for the day. The meal was just
sufficient to whet our appetite for something more and better,
and fortunately we were able to buy at a canteen a cup of more
palatable coffee for ten pfennige and likewise fresh rolls.

We were lined up several times on the day after our arrival,
sometimes to receive orders and learn regulations, and always
to be counted. We were counted so often that we could not help
likening our captors to a miser who was always fingering and
checking his golden treasure. We found the process irksome :
it reminded us of our schooldays, when we were lined up in the

RULES, REGIMEN AND RUMOURS 33

playground, and the unpleasantness was aggravated by the
marked disparity in age and status of the men in our midst.
We were told that card-playing and the drinking of alcoholic
liquors were forbidden ; that smoking in the barracks was like-
wise forbidden ; and that anybody who violated these rules
would be put into a cell for seventy-two hours with black bread
and water. We were informed that we could write messages
home, to England or anywhere else, but they must be written
with a pencil and only on postcards, otherwise they would not
leave ; a concession of which we all eagerly availed ourselves.
We were also told that we must hand over any money in our
possession above twenty marks, and especially any gold that we
might have, and that a deposit account would be opened for us
at the office, from which we could draw at intervals. We were
also told — and this announcement filled us with joy and hope
for many hours — that if we thought there was any reason why
we should be released, we should address a petition to that effect
to the Commandant of the Camp. Needless to say, we all became
very busy penning — or rather pencilling — petitions, urging that
we had never done and never would do any harm to the Kaiser's
dominions ; but it was a waste of paper and energy, as well as
a source of disappointment, for we had to wait many months
before we received a reply, which was invariably the same :
" Abgelehnt" (Rejected).

We were faced so often by the staff of officers within the first
twenty-four hours of our arrival that we very soon knew their
names, ranks, distinguishing characteristics, and idiosyncrasies.
The Commandant-in-Chief was Major Count von Schwerin, a
septuagenarian with white moustache and stooping shoulders,
who walked with a shaky step and with the help of a stick, and
seldom made any announcements personally. These were
generally communicated by the Acting Commandant, First
Lieutenant Baron von Taube, a man of about fifty, tall, well-set,
and with a grey moustache of a less imposing character than that
of his superior. " The Baron," as he was invariably styled, had
been raised to this lofty position out of the obscurity of an
insurance agency to which his civilian energies had been devoted,
and his inexperience in administration showed itself in a peculiar
vacillation of disposition and an incalculable alternation between
unrelenting severity and the most amiable leniency. He never

3

34 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

seemed complete without a cigar between his lips, and we soon
began to estimate how many cigars a day he smoked. In attend-
ance upon the Baron was a non-commissioned officer, Feldwebel
Mohr, a splay-footed man of forty, who was a policeman in private
life, and who liked to raise his voice on every possible occasion,
either to repeat the Baron's commands or to act as their sole
medium. These three, in their various capacities, were charged
with the general administration of the camp. Then there were
the Rittmeister von Miiller, a surly, sallow-visaged officer of
about sixty, who was a good judge of horse-flesh, and had charge
both of the sentries and the kitchen supplies ; the " Rechnungs-
rat," or " Calculating Councillor," Gliesch, a truculent bureaucrat
who had charge of our personal records, and who determined
whether a prisoner should be released or receive leave of absence ;
and the medical officer, Dr. Lachmann, a rather handsome man
with a kindly manner. At the time of writing, nearly two years
after the date of my internment, all but two of these officers have
left the Camp. The doctor died ; the policeman was wanted at
home to quell women's riots ; the " Calculating Councillor "
went to the front with " the best wishes " of the Camp ; the
Rittmeister was wanted to buy up horses ; and the Count and
the Baron who, according to their lights, had tried to do their
best, received their conge in the summer of 1916, on the ground
apparently that they had not been strict enough, but shortly
afterwards came back again.

We soon realised that we would not run any risk at Ruhleben
of putting on flesh. At midday we lined up again, always four
deep, of course, and armed with our bowls and headed by our
soldiers we marched again to the kitchen for " dinner." We came
back again with some vegetable soup (of which we again spilled
some on the way), which presented something of a problem, as
we had no spoons. Fortunately one man in our box had brought
a spoon with him, and we used it in turn for as much of the con-
coction as we could swallow ; but there was no need of a knife
and fork, as we had no meat. Hardly anybody, despite a keen
appetite, could consume all his portion : the remains were
thrown into a barrel outside the stable, and then we swilled and
cleaned the bowls beneath the tap, and dried it with the towel
that we had for our face. The next " meal " came at five o'clock.
Again we lined up in fours and marched with our bowls to the

RULES, REGIMEN AND RUMOURS 35

kitchen, wondering what we should now get to assuage our
ravenous hunger. We came back with a bowl of weak cocoa,
with which we involuntarily splashed one another's boots. We
now knew what our daily fare would be and gnashed our teeth.
But fortunately we could supplement our larder from the canteen,
where we could buy rolls, butter, jam, boiled eggs, sausages,
biscuits, milk, sugar, and fresh fruit. So we grinned and bore it,
or rather bore it without grinning.

The first week was full of interest and excitement. For every
day, and almost every hour, brought fresh batches of English-
men from different parts of Germany. The great gate would
swing open, and in would march a company of travel-stained
prisoners, who always formed a motley crew, old and young, rich
and poor, smart and ragged, laden with portmanteaux, bags, and
parcels of all sizes and shapes, and escorted by armed soldiers
in different uniforms according to the Federal State from which
they came. The guards always had their guns on their shoulders,
and sometimes the weapons had fixed bayonets. The prisoners
drew up in front of Stable I, the nearest to the military offices,
in order to go through the preliminary formality of registration
before being assigned to their quarters, and then would take
place a hurried cross-fire of questions and answers.

" Where are you from ? " we would ask.

Back came a dozen different answers : " From Dresden " —
" From Breslau " — " From Cologne, been in prison till now " —
" From Chemnitz " — " From Essen, took me for a blooming
spy " — " I was a jockey at Hoppegarten " — " From Heidelberg,
studying there " — " From Munich, had a rotten time there " —
" From the Black Forest, caught on a walking tour : no more
holiday in Germany for me ! "

All parts of Germany seemed to be contributing to the new
English community that was coming into being, and already
I could gather from a score of independent sources that the
German plea that our internment was simply an act of reprisal
was a hypocritical pretence, as hundreds of the men who came
into Ruhleben had already been prisoners in other camps or in
gaols since the very first day of the war and had been subjected
to the vilest treatment. Nay, some of them, coming from the
Rhineland, told me that they had been arrested and imprisoned
at the end of July. And they all had a sad tale to tell of their

3G THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

journey, which varied, according to the distance, from twelve to
twenty-four hours, for in most cases they were treated roughly
by the soldiers and were not allowed to buy any refreshment in
the stations at which they stopped, or even to get a glass of
water. The men from Munich had a particularly distressing
experience, and had to listen to an insulting and revolting speech
from the officer in charge of the escort. The prosperous colony
of Englishmen from Hamburg had spent two days and nights
on the hulks in the harbour, where they were jammed and
crammed into a space too small even for a third of their number,
and where they were nearly choked by the repulsive fare and
asphyxiated by the terrible stinks. From Hamburg and Bremen
came some twelve hundred merchant seamen, the captains and
crews of about sixty ships, many of which were detained in the
port from the 29th July, and some of which, after being allowed
to set sail, were brought back without excuse a couple of hours'
later. We cheered these men as they sturdily marched into the
Camp— the only prisoners without luggage, for their belongings
were not sent on until many weeks later ; and we felt a sort of
thrill as we gazed at the gold-laced coats of the captains and
read the familiar English names and initials of different shipping
and railway companies on the expansive jerseys of many a
weather-beaten sailor ; and we were moved to pity at the sight
of so many boys, mere children of fourteen and fifteen, who,
despite their pale thin cheeks, bore themselves so bravely in
captivity. Many months afterwards the Geiman Government
instituted an enquiry into the treatment in other camps of the
prisoneis brought to Ruhleben, and into the incidents on their
journeys, but the Commissioner who came to our Camp found
the men almost unanimously reticent, for the latter had no
guarantee that their statements would be faithfully recorded or
that they would be immune from reprisals.

The boasted machinery of the Royal Prussian War Office
broke down under the strain of these successive arrivals, and
the Camp authorities lost their heads and their tempers in their
efforts to cope with the situation. The local police dispatched
their prisoners as regularly as clockwork, but the preparations
for the reception of such a large number within so short a space
of time were utterly inadequate. Many groups of prisoners-
some only in their light summer clothes— were kept standing

RULES, REGIMEN AND RUMOURS 37

about for hours before they were assigned to horse-boxes or hay-
lofts ; many of them were drenched in the rain and were unable
to seek any shelter. Owing to the shortage of beds and of bedding
material of any kind, a few hundred had to sleep several nights
in the stone-floored hall beneath the middle grand stand, where
they had to make themselves as cosy as possible on a layer of
straw and protect themselves against the cold and draughcs by
sleeping in their overcoats with upturned collars. Another
batch — mainly the Hamburg contingent — had to bed their
straw in an elevated building known as the Tea House, which
at least had the advantage of a wooden floor, though its big
expanse of frosted window-panes chilled the sleepers to the
marrow. And others, chiefly from Frankfort-on-the-Maine,
Munich, and other towns of South Germany, who had spent
a night in the military camp at Giessen en route, were tem-
porarily housed in the large waiting-room at the Emigrants'
Railway Station, where they were bedded on straw and had to
share a blanket between every two men. Moreover, among these
various contingents were many men who had been taking a
" cure " at the health resorts of Bad' Nauheim, Homburg, Kis-
singen, and other places, for diseases of the heart, liver, kidneys,
etc., and who were now doomed to complete their " cure " in
draughty horse-boxes or suffocating hay-lofts. What struck
us as most remarkable was that there were also several men who
were quite lame, with a club-foot or deformed leg, and who
could not, even by the wildest stretch of imagination, have been
regarded as possible recruits for the British Army. The strangest
case of all was that of a frail old gentleman of eighty, who had
been dragged from his sick-bed by the over-zealous police in
defiance of the Government order which exempted men above the
age of fifty-five. The Commandant was so moved by the sight
of this tottering and venerable prisoner, that he escorted him to
the Casino (the restaurant in which the officers, and afterwards
the privileged prisoners, dined) to rest, and procured his release
within a few hours.

From the very moment of our arrival the authorities realised
the need of securing the co-operation of some of the prisoners
for the efficient administration of the Camp affairs, and for the
interpretation of their announcements ; and the Acting Com-
mandant, Baron von Taube, therefore proposed to the inmates

38 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

of each " barrack " that they should elect a Captain from their
number who should act as intermediary between them and the
military authorities. The proposal was excellent, but its proper
realization at that time was impracticable, as we were all more
or less strangers to one another and ignorant of each other's
capacity for the office. Hence the men who became captains
were not elected by their fellow-prisoners, but were imposed
upon them by the Baron, who was satisfied with their mastery
of German and their capacity of correctly interpreting his orders.
These first captains were all, with the exception of the captain
from the seamen, men who had been domiciled in Germany for
some years, and who were presumptuous enough to recommend
themselves. When the Baron announced their appointment in
front of each barrack no one was bold enough to challenge the
decision, and thereupon we were told that in future any question
or request that we might wish to put to the military authorities
must be communicated through our respective captains, whom
we had to accept for better or for worse. Any prisoner who
addressed a military officer in future would be punished. The
captains were not slow to realise the power they had suddenly
acquired, and many of them assumed towards their fellow-
prisoners an attitude of insufferable arrogance and dictatorial
authority. As they could not cope with all the work themselves,
they appointed from among their friends or box-mates a vice-
captain, and likewise a postman who should collect the outgoing
and deliver the incoming correspondence, and a cashier, who
should relieve us of any superfluous money, especially gold.

We had scarcely been in the Camp twenty-four hours before
all sorts of rumours got afloat about our impending release, and
bets were freely made that we would be out again within a
month, or at the latest by Christmas. Had we then known that
most of the men would be doomed to spend two full years and
more within the barbed wire fence, I tremble at the thought of
the abysmal, raving despair that would have seized upon us.
It was hard for all — for those who were living in the country and
had been torn away from their wives and children and occupa-
tions, as well as for those who had come to Germany for a holi-
day or a " cure " and found retreat suddenly cut off. But with
all our sympathy for one another in our common distress we could
not suppress a smile when we heard that there were Englishmen

RULES, REGIMEN AND RUMOURS 39

who had actually come into Germany on August ist — " just in
time for the show," as we put it. Our hopes of an early release,
for at least some of our number, were fed by the Camp authorities
themselves, not only in advising us to send in personal petitions
but also in making various utterances which we thought were
inspired by official knowledge. I asked the Baron myself, two
days after our arrival, what the chances were, and his reply was :
" Es ist eine iibereilte Sache. In einigen Tagen kommen sehr viele
wieder heraus " (The thing has been done in a hurry. In a few
days very many will be out again). I reported this remark to
some friends, and within half an hour it was known to the whole
Camp, and hope ran high. Then we received a visit from Lieu-
tenant Tritschler von Falkenstein, the representative of the
Berlin Kommandantur in charge of civilian prisoners of war,
and he said to some men : " Get up a petition to your own
Government, and I'll send it for you." The idea was not adopted
because we did not wish to play into the hands of our captors,
and besides we could not believe that our internment was any-
thing but a temporary measure. Within the first week the
musician, Frederic Lamond, who is a Scotsman, was released by
the intervention of the German Crown Prince. If he so soon
why not others later, even if they had no friend at Court ?

CHAPTER VI

THE SEGREGATION OF THE JEWS

The Kosher question — Transported to the Emigrants' Railway Station —
A straw-strewn waiting-room — Chaos and babel — The backyard pump — A
Sabbath concert — A ghastly night — Back in Camp — " Barrack VI " — Furnishing
our apartments — Sleeping six side by side — Fetching the beds — Forbidden
candles — Fashionable residences — A " Black Hole of Calcutta."

ON the seventh day of our internment (on Thursday
morning, November 12th, 1914, to be exact) we were
summoned by the alarm-bell, which was vigorously
struck by one of the guards, to line up in front of our barracks,
and we awaited impatiently the new order that was to be pro-
mulgated. The Baron, attended by his adjutant, the Sergeant,
called upon all those who were Israeliten to step out of the ranks
and form up on the other side. Many stepped out whom I had
not suspected of being Jews ; others, whose features proclaimed
their race, were moral cowards and skulked behind. The Baron
then asked those of us who would like to eat Kosher to step on
one side, and our names were taken ; the others were dismissed.
The same process was carried out in all the other barracks. We
were told that the object was to ascertain the number of Jews
who were to be provided with Kosher dinners which the managers
of a Jewish Soup Kitchen in Berlin, actuated by religious con-
siderations, were willing to send in every day with the assent
of the military authorities. It was found that the total number
did not exceed about seventy, though the number of Jews in the
Camp was estimated to be between three and four hundred. There-
upon we were ordered to pack up all our belongings, bedding
and all, and to get ready to move to new quarters in the Emi-
grants' Railway Station. We formed up, four deep, and heavily
laden, near the gate, and as we passed out under military escort
we were greeted by jeers from many of our fellow-prisoners who
looked on amused. " Judcn heraus ! " was the cry of the German -

40

THE SEGREGATION OF THE JEWS 41

speaking Englishmen, who formed a considerable crowd. " Good
shutness ! " was the comment of some un-English Englishmen.

When we saw our new quarters many of us broke down. Our
guards took us to the large grimy waiting-room, in which so
many thousands of Russian and Rumanian emigrants have
rested their weary limbs before sailing for America. Within all
was chaos. The floor was thickly covered with straw right round
the room to a width of seven feet from the walls, and everybody
began struggling to get comfortable positions away from the
banging doors, and to heap up a good mound of straw for a soft
bed. The room was already tenanted by a large number of
Jews, partly Russian and partly English, who were picnicking
in the straw, and we had scarcely arrived on the scene when we
were joined by a further large batch of co-religionists — men who
had expressed no preference for ritual fare, but who were never-
theless evicted from the Camp, in order that, as the Baron put
it, " You might be all together." Several of those in this final
contingent had hung back when the Jews were called upon for
the second time to step out, but they were spotted by the soldiers,
or they yielded to the Baron's threat that they would be punished
if they did not own up. Despite the threat, however, about a
hundred Jews, some of whom told their fellow-prisoners that
they had no religion or that they were baptized, contrived to re-
main behind. Probably the Acting Commandant knew that he
had already sent to the Railway Station three times as many
people as the waiting-room would hold. We numbered altogether
about two hundred and fifty, and many men hesitated to enter
for fear of being stifled or trampled upon.

The open-air space that we had in which to move about was
a narrow, cobble-paved yard, which was no longer than the
waiting-room itself, and in which it was impossible to walk with-
out being jostled. There was a smaller room near by, which
was already crowded with a number of non-Jews, among whom
was Captain Heaton Armstrong, the late private secretary of
the late Prince of Albania, the Prince of Wied. The only advan-
tage of our new quarters was that there was a buffet in the
waiting-room, where we could buy tea, coffee, and various light
refreshments ; but those who had no money — and they formed
a big contingent — were taken back at five o'clock by the soldiers
into the Camp to get their bowls filled with cocoa, which was

42 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

half cold by the time they returned. As the evening advanced
the confusion increased, for although all the floor space round the
walls was occupied to the full — no man being allowed more room
than he needed for his own body, and hardly enough for that —
there were still over sixty for whom accommodation had to be
found. Upon the initiative of a big man with a big voice, whom
we afterwards knew as Dr. Katz, the tables were removed into
the yard, and the inner part of the room was then covered with
heaps of straw taken from those who had already bedded them-
selves against the walls ; and upon the inner area the rest had
to make their couches as well as they could, head against head.
In the midst of these preparations all the dim gas-jets but one
went out, and in the ensuing darkness it seemed that pande-
monium would break out. It was impossible to light a match
or a candle, as a spark upon the straw might have set the whole
building ablaze ; but fortunately several of us had electric
torches, with the aid of whose rays we completed the " bedding '
arrangements. The air in the room was so thick that it could
have been cut with a knife. The stench was overpowering,
partly owing to sweat, partly to the smoke of bad cigars, and
partly to the steam from some under-garments which some
Russian Jews had washed and were drying on the stove. At
length the gas-jets burned again, weirdly lighting up the strangest
scene upon which my eyes had ever set.

The " beds " were packed as close to one another as sardines
in a box ; there was no line of division except that marked by
differently coloured blankets and the bags or portmanteaux at
the foot. The gangway along the length of the room was so
narrow that it was impossible to move a yard without treading
upon somebody's coverlet, or upsetting somebody's supper, or
pushing somebody's arm while writing, and the ensuing recrimina-
tions were voluble and violent. There was an incessant babble
in four languages — English, German, Russian, and Yiddish ;
and there was a ready exchange of personal experiences and
mutual introductions. Among my fellow-sufferers I came across
a Yiddish actor, Max Gusofsky, whom I had last seen eight
years before as a hero in opera in a Whitechapel theatre, and who
had been stranded in Germany on his way home from Rumania.
The buffet did a brisk trade in coffee, rolls, and little hot sausages,
and the clamour continued until half-past eight, when we retired.

THE SEGREGATION OF THE JEWS 43

To retire was easy ; to sleep was a more difficult problem.
For when the lights were low and we were all jammed so close
to one another that it was impossible to move an arm or a leg
without disturbing one's neighbour and rousing his ire, a remark-
able fit of talkativeness seized upon one half of the company,
to the annoyance and distraction of the other half. Anecdotes
and jokes of a dubious order were related ; compliments, ex-
pletives, and oaths were exchanged in various languages ; impre-
cations were hurled at the head of the Kaiser ; and challenges
to combat were recklessly given but fortunately not accepted.
The men who lay beneath the windows had them closed ; those
at a distance demanded that they should be opened ; and
between them raged a battle royal in words until they exhausted
all invectives. Then, after a lull, a ghostly figure would emerge
from some blanket and try to approach one of the windows,
but a kick from some near-lying foot sent him back to his couch
repentant. I had the good fortune to have a position in one of
the corners of the room, where I was free from any bodily dis-
turbance except in the region of the feet, which seemed to attract
the great toes of my neighbours ; but even after I succeeded in
avoiding these pedal collisions, I lay awake a couple of hours,
listening to the discordant snoring and snorting in various keys
of my fellow-sleepers, which varied in volume and vehemence
every few minutes, until I too — I presume — added my humble
contribution to the cacophonous concert.

The washing arrangements in the morning were more primi-
tive than in the Camp. The taps in the dilapidated wash-house
were out of order, so we drew water from a pump into tin cans
that leaked, and poured as much as we could into the dirty
basins in which we had to wash. As for the closets, a description
of them would be as repulsive as they were themselves. I looked
forward with repugnance to spending the day between the evil-
smelling waiting-room and the squalid backyard ; but fortunately
I was selected to act as postman and was thus able to visit the
Camp twice a day, in order to bring back the mail. The task
was not altogether pleasant, as I had to stand a couple of hours
each time on the stone floor of a cold room and answer to the
name of every man whom I considered to be an inmate at the
Railway Station ; but I was rewarded by the pleasure that lit
up the men's faces when I afterwards distributed the mail. The

44 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

cause of our temporary eviction from the Camp, the Kosher
dinner, arrived in pails in a motor-car at midday ; but instead
of all being supplied with it, only those received it who had
originally had their names put down. The rest had to march
to the Camp kitchen for the ordinary dinner, and they wondered
why they had been removed at all from the horse-boxes or hay-
lofts in which they were settled. The dinner consisted of boiled
carrots and potatoes, with a piece of meat, and was certainly
more nourishing and appetising than the Camp fare ; and I had
meanwhile got rid of my pewter bowl and bought one of earthen-
ware, which was stamped on the bottom with the letters " K G.,"
standing for Kriegsgefangener (prisoner of war).

Sabbath eve was honoured by a band of pietists with the
customary religious service, and the familiar melodies were sung
in unfamiliar surroundings. There was no Sabbath supper,
however, to follow ; though after we had consumed our frugal
meal an impromptu concert was arranged, to which a couple
of Yiddish comedians, brothers who had been imprisoned in
Vienna as Russian spies, contributed songs both grave and gay,
and a facile violinist, who had belonged to the orchestra of a
Berlin cafe, made us all sentimental with the strains of " Kol
Nidre." As I leant back on my straw bed against the mildewy
wall, and watched the tense faces of the men listening to the
Oriental chords, I marvelled at the ease with which they had
adapted themselves to adversity ; but the solemnity of the
performance was broken by the wild shrieks of the military trains
outside which careered along in the night, with troops for the
Western front.

Nothing eventful happened until the following night. It was
an event that made the night hideous and left a sickening,
grisly impression upon the minds of us all. The early part
of the night, after the lights were out, passed as on the two
preceding nights, with squabbles about the closed windows,
mutual vituperations, and mutual exhortations to silence,
followed by a gradual lull that was the prelude to a crescendo
of snoring. And then, after I had dozed off again myself, I
became dimly conscious of a feeling of unrest throughout the
ghostly chamber. Every few minutes I heard the door opened
and closed with a bang, and then, slightly raising my head, I
saw one after another of the prostrate figures rise suddenly

THE SEGREGATION OF THE JEWS 45

from their blankets, slip on coat and boots, and make a dash for
the yard. Occasionally I heard groans from different parts of
the room, which evoked protests from some, and sympathetic
enquiries from others ; and every time the door banged, those
who lay nearest swore aloud that they would catch their death
of the draught. Then somebody rushed in from the yard,
roughly shook a sleeper, and called out : " Quick, quick, your
brother is ill outside ! " More forms arose in different places,
and rushed out in twos and threes, tumbling over the prostrate
figures of their fellow-prisoners, and jostling in the dark against
those who returned. " Open the window ! " was the cry from
many throats. " No, the smell will come in from the yard ! "
was the counter-cry of others. " Stop that row ! " was the call
of others again. " Send for the Doctor, I'm ill ! " moaned some-
body pitifully. A bald-headed man in a nightshirt lit the gas
with the remark : " Now we can see what's happening," but he
had scarcely uttered the words than he darted to the door, and
two or three men laughed. But the scoffers were soon punished,
for they too had to beat a hasty retreat. And then, after strug-
gling inwardly with myself for a few moments and trying to re-
assure myself that all was well, I had likewise to seek refuge
in the night, and I realised what was the matter. It was an
epidemic of diarrhoea ! Throughout the night the ghastly pro-
cession went on, at first with sickening briskness, but afterwards
with intervals. Many a man had no sooner returned and crawled
snugly beneath his blanket, than he had to rise again and rush
out with a smothered curse, and many did not venture to return
for hours. Throughout the night, the creaking door banged,
banishing sleep from all except those who were so exhausted
that they snored profoundly ; and before we saw the first faint
streaks of dawn we were out in the reeking yard to freshen
ourselves beneath the pump.

Presently our guards, who had slept undisturbed in the neigh-
bouring office, arrived upon the scene, and when the head-guard,
a beefy, blustering fellow, heard of our nocturnal sufferings, he
raged at us for making a disorder, and declared that next day we
would be back again at the Camp, and then he would see that
" order reigned." He suddenly became dumb when the military
doctor appeared and sympathetically enquired into the nature
and extent of the epidemic. The doctor surmised that the

46 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

trouble had been caused by the food having been originally
cooked on Friday (in accordance with the prohibition of Sabbath
labour) and allowed to remain in the coppers until Saturday,
when it was heated up again ; and he advised those who had
been sick to abstain from coffee that morning and to come to
him later for some tablets. But there were many men unable
to leave their beds of straw until midday.

It was with great relief that we heard that on the following
morning we would return to the Camp, and be housed in a
special stable, which was meanwhile being swept, scrubbed,
swilled, and purged of all traces of its former occupants by some
of our fellow-prisoners. Dr. Katz, who had taken the initiative
on the first night in creating a semblance of order out of chaos,
became our Captain, not as the result of any formal election,
but simply because of his selection by our head-guard and our
own tacit acquiescence. His main qualification was his stature,
for he was a broad-shouldered, big-breasted man of six feet ;
but the guard who appointed him afterwards rued the day, as
there gradually developed between them a conflict of authority
in which the prisoner actually triumphed. Sunday afternoon
was devoted to the filling up again of slips with personal particu-
lars ; and at length on Monday morning, at seven o'clock, we
were lined up in fours on the railway platform in order to be
conducted back to the Camp.

First of all we were counted and recounted by our guards,
until we began to look upon ourselves as mere material for their
arithmetical exercises ; and then, after we had gathered together
all our belongings, we set out upon the march once more to the
Camp, where our arrival was greeted with cries from our fellow-
prisoners of " Here they are again ! " We were conducted to
Stable VI, henceforth known as Barrack VI, which was the
oldest and dirtiest stable in the compound. Despite the cleansing
operations of the last few days there was plenty of dirt and dust
on the wooden walls and the concrete floor ; there were cobwebs
in the corners ; and there was a pervading smell of horses and
dung throughout the place. Six men were assigned to each
horse-box, which was about ten feet square, and we were allowed
to form our own party ; and after all the twenty-three boxes
were filled, and likewise the Captain's room which had the
advantage of a wooden floor, a stove, and electric light, the rest

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THE SEGREGATION OF THE JEWS 47

)f the Jewish contingent were relegated to the hay-loft, though
several of them contrived to get into Barrack VII. We deposited
)ur baggage in our boxes, which were utterly destitute of any
and of furniture, except the manger, and we were then marched
Dack to the railway station to fetch straw for our beds. My
' box-mates " comprised a couple of middle-aged business men,
i couple of young schoolmasters (who had been holiday-making
dong the Rhine), and a young scientist engaged in a British
aovernment laboratory ; and it is needless to say that none of
is had ever had any experience in the gathering together of a
)ig bundle of hay and carrying it for a distance of a quarter of
i mile. I tied up my bundle in my bed-sheet and slung it over
ny shoulder, and as I trudged with bowed head back to the
stable, I vividly recalled the bondage of my ancestors in Egypt.
Between the six of us we managed to garner enough straw to
:over the entire floor, except for a space about three feet wide,
which we left for our luggage and to sit in, and we placed a long
x>ard, a foot high, across the floor to prevent the straw from
)verflowing into our " sitting-room." We were given a chair
>ach, mostly dirty and dilapidated, but no table ; and we then
Droceeded to knock nails into the walls to hang up some of our
Delongings. It was not until some days later that each horse-
box was provided with a wooden shelf, about four feet long, to
;vhich were affixed six hooks ; that was the entire accommoda-
:ion that was given for our crockery and cutlery, for the larder
:hat we afterwards began to accumulate, and for our clothing.
But what we lacked we supplied ourselves in time, and at our
Dwn cost : longer and broader shelves, brackets of various sizes,
md cupboards made out of the wooden boxes in which our
parcels from England arrived.

For ten days we slept side by side on the straw, over which
we spread our military blankets, and we covered ourselves with
Dur private blankets and overcoats. The heating of the barrack
iid not begin until a fortnight later, for the steam pipes had not
pet been fixed up, and in the meantime we froze by day and
shivered by night. Fortunately, none of us was of more than
medium girth, or we should have had a tight squeeze ; as it was,
we involuntarily and inevitably elbowed one another throughout
the night. Where formerly one horse kicked his hoofs against
the wall, making dents that were still plainly visible, now lay

48 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

six men : a relation of value that threw a peculiar light upon
Prussian " Kultur." At the end of ten days we were given long
sacks, into which we stuffed our straw, and also a small sack to
serve as a pillow, and thus we had our own particular palliasse.
The shower of straw-dust that filled the stable by the time we
had finished making our mattresses and bolsters was almost
suffocating ; it entered our eyes, our nostrils, our mouths ; and
we spluttered more and more until we nearly choked. During
the day we heaped up these sacks, three against one wall and
three aganist another, with the bolsters at one end, and by
covering them over with our blankets we converted them into
comfortable couches, on which we could take an afternoon siesta
in turn.

It was not until six weeks later that we received bedsteads.
These were not considerately brought to us, but we had to go
and fetch them from the railway siding. In size and make they
were the ordinary military bedsteads, with an iron framework,
into which had to be fixed three planks to lie on and a headil
board and footboard. Had they been new, they would have
been welcome ; but they were old, dirty, ramshackle, with bent
legs, missing screws and grimy worm-eaten boards. It was m
cold, dreary, drizzling afternoon when we dragged them in, and
our head-guard raged and bellowed as he escorted us, as though j
he were driving oxen. He would have liked us to march into the
Camp with our burdens, lined up in fours and keeping time ;
but that was a spectacle that we could not possibly provide, even |
if our lives had depended on it. We had a difficulty in finding
upper beds whose legs fitted into the sockets of the lower beds ; I
we had a difficulty in finding planks and boards that fitted each
bed ; we had a difficulty in getting enough " lysol " to clean and
disinfect the wood and metal ; and we had the final difficulty
of carrying the beds into the horse-boxes, and setting them up
in three sets of two tiers each against the walls. Whilst we were
struggling and sweating over our task our head-guard went from
box to box, fuming, yelling, and swearing until I thought he |
would have a seizure, and raining upon us such choice epithets
as " Verdammter Judenpack ! " and " Saujuden ! " If he found
a head-board at the foot of the bed, or the reverse, or thought
that a leg might be broken by too violent tugging, he wo aid fly
into a choleric fit, and we unanimously wished him a speedy

THE SEGREGATION OF THE JEWS 49

transit to another region, where the heat would spare him the
trouble of working himself up into a rage.

After the beds were fixed up there was very little floor-space
or elbow-room left. The floor was occupied by a board about
six feet by five, which was provided by the military authorities ;
in the middle of it we placed a small folding-table which we had
ordered from a shop in Berlin ; and around this we ranged our
six chairs. The result was that there was just enough room
to sit down, but not enough to move about ; and only those seated
near the door could leave the box without disturbing their com-
panions or nearly upsetting the table. We also left a brief space
so as to get to the manger, into which we first deposited some
hand-bags, and afterwards the tins of foodstuffs that came
from England. At length we were properly installed : we each
had a bed with a straw sack, a chair, and a sixth of a table, and
we tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible.

The only light that we had in the evening was supplied by
three small electric lamps fixed in the ceiling of the passage ;
these were utterly inadequate to light up the interior of our
boxes, and we were forbidden to burn candles. Hence, during
the first few weeks we were compelled to eat our supper in the
passage, and our table, before we received a proper one from
Berlin, consisted of a couple of portmanteaux placed on the long
wooden bench, which, in the morning, served as a washstand.
But afterwards we grew bolder : we burned candles in our
boxes and blocked up the peep-hole of the door, through which
the stable-keeper used to watch the horses, to prevent our
neighbours or the guards from prying in. This precaution,
however, only enraged our guards, who burst in the covering
of our peep-hole if it were made of cardboard, but only hurt
their fingers if it were made of wood. And as in the horse-box
I occupied we had a candle-lamp with a glass shade which ex-
cluded the possibility of fire breaking out, our guard was indignant
that we should enjoy such a luxury. On the door of each box
was affixed a card bearing the names of its occupants, which were
written or drawn in various decorative styles, and occasionally
accompanied by some fanciful title by which the box itself was
designated. Thus, we had side by side the " Tent of Jacob " and
" Hotel Bristol," " Hotel Dalles " and " Hotel Adlon," " Pension
Nebbick " and " Palais de Rothschild." My own box, as befitted

4

50 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

the residence of Zionists, bore the name of the Jewish national
anthem, " Hatikvah " (The Song of Hope).

Our friends in the hay-loft (the sloping roof of which, at
the two opposite walls, was only four and a half feet from
the floor) had no beds, with one or two exceptions, and
had to sleep on their straw-sacks. At first they had ample
room, but shortly afterwards a fresh batch of prisoners arrived
from the " Stadtvogtei " Jail and were all relegated to the
same loft, although they were non-Jews ; and shortly before
Christmas a further batch came from Belgium and were likewise
consigned to the self-same loft. In fact, whenever afterwards
fresh groups of prisoners arrived the officials at once ordered
them to the loft of Barrack VI, as though it had an inexhaustible
capacity ; and when the Russian Jews were removed from our
midst to the Russian Camp at Holzminden their plac s were
immediately filled by new arrivals or transfers from other bar-
racks. The result was that the loft of Barrack VI was so crammed
and crowded with prisoners, all sleeping on straw-sacks packed
close to one another, that the place, with fts low-lying roof, its
little windows, its stifling atmosphere, its dismal light and its
fetid smells, gave the impression of a veritable " Black Hole of
Calcutta." But it was not until March, 19-15, that the American
Ambassador set eyes on this scandalous spectacle, from which he
recoiled with a shudder, and denounced the loft as unfit for
habitation ; and not until three months later that its inmates
were transferred to other barracks. Thus our segregation,
which caused us so much needless additional suffering, and
which even at the outset was not complete, had perforce to yield
to a form of dispersion.

CHAPTER VII

ADMINISTRATION, DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT

Dual government — Guards and sentries — Barracks and captains — The Dele-
gates' Committee — The American Ambassador — Civilian police force — Punish-
ment in cells — " Seventy-two hours " — Savage soldiers — Cases of brutality —
Offences punishable by " Stadtvogtei " — The " bird-cage."

OUR Camp had a dual government, half military and half
civilian. The main function of the military govern-
ment, comprising Commandant, a staff of officers, and
a company of soldiers, was to prevent us from escaping ; the
main function of the civilian government, that is of our barrack
captains, was to look after our welfare. Fortunately there
were flaws in the discharge of the former function ; unfortu-
nately there were flaws in the discharge of the latter too. The
military authorities were responsible to a body in Berlin known
as the Kommandantur , which was in turn answerable to the
Prussian War Office ; and at fairly frequent intervals a military
motor-car, with the Government Arms, would roll into the
compound, and out would step officers in distinguished-looking
uniforms, before whom the Commandant would bow deferentially
and his subordinates would click their heels with clock-work pre-
cision. Although the Count von Schwerin was the nominal
Commandant, and for a certain period lived in the Camp, he
was comparatively rarely seen in our midst. The main control
devolved upon the Baron von Taube, who had come to Ruhleben
to spend his honeymoon with his second wife, accompanied by
a frisky little black Pomeranian. The Baron often walked about
in the Camp with his wife, but never without his cigar, and he
was generally accessible to those who wished to address him.

Each barrack was in the charge of two or three soldiers, one
of whom acted as head-guard, and who were distinguished by
a black-white-red band on their arm, bearing the number of their

52 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

barrack. But in the middle of September, 1915, all the soldiers
were removed from the barracks, to our unconcealed satisfac-
tion, and some of them were added to the guard, others were
sent to the front, and the rest were returned to their former
civilian occupations, especially if they were policemen. The
guard, who originally numbered only about three dozen and
were gradually increased to about two hundred, patrolled in
shifts round the walls and fences of the Camp, and did two
hours' duty each time, followed by four hours' rest. Their
duties were rather monotonous, as attempts to escape were not
encouraged by the ten-foot brick wall surmounted by barbed
wire fence on two sides of the Camp, and a wire fence of equal
height on the other two sides. Like all the other soldiers in the
Camp, the sentries were drawn from the reserves, and they were
either unfit to be sent out to the front or they had been sent back
from it. Early in the summer of 1915 many invalided soldiers
arrived from the Military Hospitals for the purpose of recuperat-
ing, and they, as well as their comrades, went through regular
drills and marches to make them fit again for active service.
They were all examined at various intervals from the spring of
1915 by the military doctor, and those who were found eligible
were promptly sent off. It was both interesting and amusing to
watch the expression on the face of each soldier as he came out
of the doctor's room and rejoined his comrades — a broad grin be-
tokened rejection, a long face meant selection for cannon-fodder.
We lived at first in eleven stables and the " Tea House," but
as these were all overcrowded and fresh batches of prisoners
constantly arrived additional wooden barracks were built in
different parts of the Camp, bringing up the total in the end to
twenty-three, which at one time contained 4500 inmates in
all. The first fifteen barracks all had their own captains, but
most of the others were regarded as dependances of the bar-
racks that supplied them with the majority of their occupants
and had only a sub-captain. The captains, for the most part,
were unpopular from the very start, owing partly to their not
having been elected, and partly to their instinctive imitation of
the autocratic Prussian style. They were responsible only to
the Commandant, and their fellow-prisoners knew that they
could always enforce the " little brief authority " in which they
were dressed. Some of the captains were undoubtedly men of

ADMINISTRATION, DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT 53

character, especially one who was sent to the " Stadtvogtei "
Prison for five weeks, for taking a bold stand on the question of
the military control of the Camp's communal funds, and another
who had twenty-four hours' confinement in the cells for a spirited
reply to the Baron arising out of a matter in which a soldier was
at fault : and both of whom lost their office through their punish-
ment. On the other hand, there was one captain whose conduct
made him so unpopular that the Baron permitted the proper
election of a successor ; though in another case a new captain,
popularly elected by his barrack, was deposed by the Comman-
dant because he would not recognize the right of the Captain
of the Camp, " the Captain of Captains," to represent the Camp
to outside authorities.

The captains were distinguished by a white arm-band, bearing
their title and the number of their barrack. Their duties con-
sisted in keeping an up-to-date record of the prisoners and
military property (beds, blankets, straw-sacks, bowls, etc.) in
their respective barracks, communicating military orders, main-
taining discipline, administering relief, looking after the internal
affairs of the Camp in general, and acting as intermediaries with
the Commandant in all matters affecting the welfare of their
fellow-prisoners. They had a properly equipped office, over the
entrance to which was emblazoned in yellow paint the title
" Captains' Office," wherein they held their conferences and
kept their books ; but at no time did they enjoy either the
respect or the confidence of the bulk of their fellow-prisoners,
owing mainly to the inscrutable secrecy they preserved con-
cerning their deliberations and their strange reluctance for a
long time to publish a balance-sheet of the moneys that passed
through their hands. The general dissatisfaction first came to
a head in the middle of January, 1915, on the occasion of the
release of Mr. E. M. Trinks," the first captain of the Camp, or
Ober-Obmann des Lagers, as he was styled in German. Prior
to his departure, Mr. Trinks announced that he would draw up
a report on the conditions of the Camp, and forward it to the
British Government, but as it was feared that he would limn
it in too favourable colours, three thousand signatures were
immediately collected demanding that he should first submit
the report to elected representatives of the Camp, or else it
would be repudiated. Mr. Trinks's reply to the ultimatum was

54 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

that he was only going to furnish the Government with some
figures relating to moneys spent. The delegates then appointed
by the barracks to deal with the matter constituted themselves
into a regular committee to secure various improvements in the
Camp, and to supplement, or rather quicken, the activity of
the Captains. But although they were at first recognised by the
Commandant they were disbanded by him a few weeks later
(on February 24, 1915) on the plea that they had published
minutes and notices which they were forbidden to do, and that
they would not co-operate with the captains. The dissolution
of this committee only exacerbated the feelings of the prisoners,
and Mr. Trinks's successor, Mr. J. Powell (managing director of
the German branch of the Eclair Film Company), did little or
nothing to allay the prevalent discontent. Mr. Powell has
undoubtedly accomplished a great deal for the betterment of
the Camp, but any one of twenty other men would certainly
have achieved as much, if not more, and in addition have won
the respect and confidence of all his fellow-prisoners. But un-
fortunately " Captain " Powell is afflicted with a regrettable
brusqueness of manner, and his lightning method of addressing
his fellow-prisoners may have been caught from the fleeting films
that he controls.

The only authority to whom we could appeal, in our various
troubles, without running the risk of reprisals, was the American
Ambassador, Mr. J. W. Gerard, who was entrusted with the
interests of British subjects in Germany. He paid periodical
visits to Ruhleben in order to enquire into grievances and to
investigate conditions that needed reform, but his visits were
hardly frequent enough to cope with the manifold evils that
prevailed or to secure their prompt removal. Like the Com-
mandant he always upheld the authority and rectitude of the
captains, though he effected a temporary improvement in the
Camp finance committee by the addition of two men who enjoyed
general confidence. He was not slow to point out to the military
authorities the wretched conditions that required instant better-
ment, and succeeded in gradually bringing about various im-
portant changes ; but our impatience, our peevishness, and our
ignorance of diplomatic machinery probably made us at times
disposed towards him in other than a fraternal spirit. He had
the disbursing of funds from the British Government for the

ADMINISTRATION, DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT 55

relief of needy prisoners and the betterment of Camp conditions,
and naturally treated on these matters with the Captain of the
Camp, who was allowed to visit the Embassy once a week.
Apart from Mr. Gerard various members of his staff, particularly
Mr. G. W. Minot, and the medical expert, Dr. A. E. Taylor, also
visited the Camp from time to time. The number of letters that
passed each week between prisoners and the Embassy on all
sorts of conceivable questions must have been legion. At first
they were controlled only by the ordinary censorship, but after-
wards they were subjected to an additional and stricter scrutiny
on the part of Lieutenant Riidiger, the officer in charge of the
' Furlough and Release Department," who, according as he
thought fit, made a note of their contents for future reference,
or suppressed them, or summoned the writers for a personal
explanation. Thus, a certain prisoner who had ascertained that
he had forfeited his British citizenship, and who applied to the
American Embassy for an official declaration to that effect, in
the hope that he would thereby secure his release, was bluntly
informed by this officer that his letter would not be allowed to
go through.

Order within the Camp was maintained, not by the guards,
whose authority was confined to their barracks and shared
there with the captains, but by a police force recruited from the
prisoners, consisting of an inspector, four sergeants, and fifty
constables. The inspector was Mr. C. S. Butchart, a professional
golfer, who had laid out courses for many German magnates ;
whilst of the sergeants the two best known and most active were
masters of mercantile ships, Captain E. Alcide and Captain J.
Stewart. The constables, who were largely drawn from the sea-
faring fraternity, were distinguished by a striped white-and-blue
armlet, and by an enamel button with their number in blue on
the lapel of their coat, whilst the officers had buttons with their
rank marked in gilt letters. The duties of the police force,
which was, of course, recognised by the military authorities, was
to control the queues that formed up regularly outside the
canteens, parcels office, " box-office," and hot-water house ; to
keep order in the entertainment hall and on the sports ground ;
and to signal us to bed at night with a shrill blast from their
whistles. They were located in a special shed, which once was
used as a grocery store, and which they fitted up as a sort of

56 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

club-room. The police-station also did duty as a lost property
office, and the notice-board always recorded a long list of articles
found, such as pipes, pocket-knives, pencil-cases, gloves, tennis-
balls, etc., which, if unclaimed, were sold by auction every six
months for the benefit of the Camp fund. The police discharged
their duties energetically and tactfully, and even provided a
night patrol in the interior of the Camp ; and the success of their
labours — or perhaps the peace-loving character of the citizens
of Ruhleben — was attested by the fewness of arrests.

Breaches of the regulations were punished, according to their
gravity, by the military authorities with confinement in the
cells or imprisonment in the Stadtvogtei Jail. The commonest
offences were smoking in barracks and burning naked candles,
whilst there was quite a host of misdemeanours, which, though
not tabulated, were visited with severe penalties. Thus, a man
who, from the top of the barrack staircase, looked over the wall
at passers-by, or who shirked the compulsory weekly bath, or
who engaged in private trading, or whom the guard accused
of insolence or insubordination, was liable, without hearing,
to be confined in a small, ill-lit cell for twenty-four, forty-eight,
or seventy- two hours. Such offenders, before incarceration,
were taken to the guard-room, where their case was entered into
a book, and they were temporarily deprived of the contents of
their pockets and of their braces. The cells were in Barrack XI,
as this was already occupied in September, 1914 ; they comprised
two horse-boxes, each divided by a wooden partition into two
cells, which were furnished merely with a wooden plank for a
bed. There the offenders, equipped solely with their blankets
and bowl, with a ration of black " war bread " and cold water
each day, ruminated and repented without interruption, save
for a periodical excursion to the " bog," on which they were
accompanied by a sentry, and in the course of which their
friends managed to pass them some eatables. After completing
their sentence the prisoners had to sweep their cells with a broom,
and they then received their belongings — and their braces — back
again. Once a prisoner who was in the " Lazaret " on account
of heart trouble, and who was caught smoking, was sent to the
cells for seventy-two hours, and then returned to the hospital
to resume his interrupted cure. One of the most curious offences
for which " seventy-two hours " were imposed was the making

m

THE MILITARY GUARD

THE CIVILIAN POLICE

ADMINISTRATION, DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT 57

of a skylight in the roof of a hay-loft. The culprit was a staid
academic gentleman of fifty, to whom this sentence was doubt-
less the most momentous he had ever heard pronounced against
him ; but although he pleaded the necessity of ventilating and
illuminating the dark hole in which he dwelt, he was declared
guilty of " damaging military property." He was the hero of
the hour, and upon his liberation was entertained to tea by his
friends.

As long as the soldiers were in charge of the barracks they
were eager to catch us committing some offence, as their report
would be regarded as proof of their zeal. The head-guard in
my barrack, whenever he found something wrong, repeatedly
threatened us : "I shall report it to the Baron ! " He was not
slow to use his fist when roused, and I once saw him kick a middle-
aged man, a merchant of standing, in the small of the back,
because the latter was cleaning his dinner-bowl over the sink at
the end of the passage — the only possible place where he could
clean it. During the early months of our internment almost all
the barrack-guards were strict and occasionally savage, and
showed scant ceremony in dragging us out of bed at six-thirty,
if we were still between our sheets when they pulled our doors
open ; but in the course of time they were tamed, partly as a
result of improved acquaintance, and partly by reason of the
perquisites that fell to their lot. The cases of brutality occurred
almost all during the first winter. One of the worst was the
battering and bruising of a poor Maltese lad, without provoca-
tion, by a cowardly soldier ; though much worse was the case of a
sailor who was so badly bruised in his cell by a couple of guards
that he had to be removed to the Camp hospital, where he died.
On one occasion a prisoner in Barrack VII, while washing early
in the morning in the passage, was violently assaulted by a
soldier, who was punished by being transferred from the easy job
of barrack-guard to the much more arduous one of sentry.
There was a certain Feldwebel Meyer, who was notorious for his
cruelty, and who, one summer night, out of pure malignity,
threw a lot of prisoners' underclothing that was hanging on a
line into a dustbin, and pitched several deck-chairs into a trench
that was being dug in front of Barrack VII. He was reported
lo the Baron for this act of malevolence, but it was not until
he had been caught drunk and sentenced to a day in the cell

I
58 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

that his prowess was given an opportunity of distinguishing itself
at the front.

The offences for which prisoners were sent to the " Stadtvog-
tei " in Berlin were generally of a graver order. They included
the smuggling of letters, attempts to escape, theft, drunkenness,
and various technical misdemeanours. A man who, writing to his
sister in England, expressed the hope that, while rowing in the
English Channel she would torpedo some German submarines,
was sent to jail for five days to repent of his folly. Another,
who wrote to his mother that he was exposed to the caprices of
a certain officer, was sentenced to a fortnight. Another, again,
who called out " Sherlock Holmes " after an officer who had
come from Berlin to enquire into the escape of two prisoners,
was given five weeks in which to reflect upon his unappreciated
humour. Still another caused his transference to the prison by
practising as a doctor to his fellow-prisoners. One of the most
remarkable cases was that of a young fellow who was alleged
to have said that a pig-sty was too good for the Kaiser to live
in, and who, on account of this presumed Majestdtsbeleidigung,
had to spend four months of solitary confinement, on common
prison fare, in two different jails. The severest sentence was
that imposed upon those who escaped from the Camp and who
were caught before they could reach the frontier : they have to
remain in the " Stadtvogtei " in solitary confinement until the
end of the war. At the time of writing, so far as my knowledge
goes, there are five men who are undergoing this inhuman
punishment for yielding to what was only a human impulse.
They at least know that they are doomed to remain in their
cells until the end of the war. But those whose offences are
admittedly of a lighter character are not told at the time of their
imprisonment the length of their sentence, and do not know it
until the moment of their liberation — a method. which is a specific
characteristic of Prussian Kultur.

Early in the summer of 1916, owing to the inadequacy of the
four punishment cells in the Camp for petty offenders, and the
apparent reluctance of the authorities to send too many offenders
to the " Stadtvogtei," a portion of the wooden Barrack XIV, at
a remote and insalubrious end of the Camp, was boarded off to
form a detention barracks. Adjoining it outside was rigged up
a wire fence, leaving an enclosure about twenty feet square,

ADMINISTRATION, DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT 59

within which the inmates could take exercise : an indulgence
of which they rarely availed themselves, however, so as to avoid
the bantering comments of their " free " fellow-prisoners. This
detention barracks, owing to the appearance of the wire fence,
was nicknamed the " bird-cage," whilst the German-speaking
prisoners who lived in its vicinity called it " Hagenbeck," after
the famous " Zoo " in Hamburg. The " bird-cage " received
most of its recruits from those who turned up late at the early
morning parades, and who received a minimum sentence of
three days. The longest period of detention in the " bird-cage "
was twenty-eight days, and any offender who was considered
to deserve a severer penalty was sent under military escort to
the " Stadtvogtei." Those who, in former days, were sent to
the Camp cells, and, still more so, those who were sent to the
Berlin prison, unless they were guilty of offences that were
punishable in civil law, invariably aroused our sympathy ; but,
by a curious psychological unreasoning, the men who were con-
demned to the " bird-cage," whether deservedly or not, seldom^
evoked anything but ironical consolation, owing to the facetious
suggestion of their place of confinement.

CHAPTER VIII

COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION

Camp Committees — Barrack officials — Filching our money — The post and
the censors — The laundry-man — Cleaning arrangements — Firemen — Manage-
ment of kitchens — Work-gangs — Constructing roads — The bread supply —
Canteens and " Pond-Stores " — Finance — Relief Fund — Profits of industries —
Committees on Education, Entertainments, and Sports — Parcels post — Import-
ance of parcels.

"^HE Ruhleben Camp can best be conceived as a captive
community under the military control of the enemy,
but with its own civilian self-government. All the
hardships its inhabitants had to endure were due to the enemy
control ; all the comforts — such as they were — that we were
able to enjoy were the fruits of our own efforts. The varied
activities that were carried on in our collective interest were
entrusted to special committees, some of whose members were
competent and honourable, whilst others were mere puppets.
There were committees for the kitchens, the canteens, sanita-
tion, watch and works, finance, education, entertainments, and
sports control. These committees were appointed by the
Captains' Committee, and consisted generally of two captains and
three members of the general community of prisoners. The two
captains on each committee acted as its chairman and vice-
chairman respectively, so that the civil administration of the
Camp was centralised in the hands of the Captains' Committee.
This supreme body included, in addition to the barrack captains,
a gentleman who acted as Camp secretary and treasurer. Mr.
J. P. Jones, a chartered accountant by profession, who filled
this post from the beginning of our internment, discharged his
labours with painstaking efficiency and unwearying zeal. The
captains received no honorarium for their work, though rumour
boldly and cynically hinted that some of them were fortunate

60

COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION 61

in the particular department to which they were attached.
They were all, so far as the military authorities were concerned,
subject to the same control as their fellow-prisoners, though
they generally had an easier task in securing a day's furlough.
Let us first of all examine the government of an individual
barrack, and then we shall consider the activity of the general
Camp Committee.

The barrack-captain appointed a vice-captain to assist him
in the general management of his little domain, and likewise two
sub-captains for the two sections into which each loft was usually
divided. These officials were distinguished by an enamel button
bearing the name of their rank and barrack. He also appointed
a cashier, two postmen, a laundryman, two policemen, two fire-
men, and cleaners. The cashier received from the military
cashier's orifice any money that arrived for the men in his barrack,
and which he was allowed to pay out at the rate of about fifty
marks (£2 10s.) a fortnight to each man. With the first instal-
ment of the remittance the prisoner received the Dutch post-
office voucher showing the amount in English currency and
likewise its German equivalent. Until the first week in May,
1916, these vouchers were very welcome documents, for they
showed us that we would receive up to twenty-six marks for the
sovereign ; but on May 7 a new order was issued by the military
authorities to the effect that we would receive only twenty marks
40 pfennige (or 20.43) for the sovereign, the difference being con-
fiscated by the German Government. The reason given for this
audacious spoliation was that it was an act of reprisal for the
depreciation of the German mark in enemy countries.

The business of the postman was to collect our letters, take
them to the military post office, and bring back our mail. Each
prisoner was allowed to write two nine-lined postcards or one
four-paged letter in each week, and a careful record was kept
by the postmen to prevent any man from exceeding his monthly
allowance. Occasionally one could write business-letters, which
were not included in the ordinary quota ; and those who wished
to send express letters or money to addresses in Germany had
the facility for doing so. Many men found the allotted amount
of personal correspondence too little for their needs, and wrote,
in addition, under the names of those who did not use up all
their letters and cards ; but this device was soon detected by

I

62 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

the authorities and suppressed. Many, too, indulged in private
codes which were wrapped up in the most innocent domestic
phraseology, though occasionally the military censors scented I
danger where none existed. A humble tailor in the Jewish
barrack was once summoned to the head-censor and accused of
employing a secret cypher. The poor man was speechless with j
amazement and protested his innocence. Then the censor
showed him a postcard addressed to him, which bore at the foot
some cryptic-looking characters. The tailor immediately un-
ravelled them as a Yiddish greeting in Hebrew cursive script
from a friend who could not write either English or German.

We dropped our missives into the letter-box that was fixed
on the door of the postman's horse-box. The receptacle was
generally a cigar-box with a slit at the top, pasted over with
a design that recalled the plates on English pillar-boxes, and
it was cleared twice a day. All communications, in addition to
being carefully scrutinised by the military censors, were, if
intended for abroad, held back for ten days " on military
grounds " ; though in cases where sufficient reason for urgency
could be shown, communications were at once stamped " F.a."
(Frist abgelanfen, i.e. delay expired) and sent off. Since the
beginning of April, 1916, letters from England to Ruhleben have
also been held back for ten days on similar grounds, so that on
the average a prisoner has to wait six to eight weeks for a reply
to his message. The mail was distributed every afternoon about
three o'clock by the barrack-postman, who was always awaited
by an eager crowd, and who received a glad response to the name
on each letter or card that he called out. The postmen were
distinguished by enamel buttons bearing a postillion's horn.

The business of the laundryman was to collect the money for
our washing-bills and settle with the representative of the
Berlin laundry which enriched itself by taking in our washing.
The service, on the whole, was good and reliable, though rather
expensive, a 10 per cent supplement having been demanded
since the autumn of 1915 on account of the increased cost of
washing materials. The laundry-cart came every day of the
week, including Sunday, and visited each barrack once a week.
It unloaded a pile of neat brown-paper parcels, with our numbers
marked in blue pencil, and went away laden with another pile
of dirty bundles. For a certain period the cart was accompanied

COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION 63

by a girl, who attended to these parcels, and who naturally
aroused much good-humoured comment in the womanless com-
munity ; but owing to the allegation, which was utterly un-
founded, that she allowed some of the dirty bundles to contain
contraband articles for friends outside, her visits were forbidden
and her place was taken by an incorruptible veteran. Many
men preferred to give their linen to the various laundries con-
ducted within the Camp, especially by Britain's coloured
subjects ; whilst those with straitened means did their own wash-
ing, at first in the barrack-passage, and from June, 1915, in the
wash-house, which had also to serve as drying-room.

The function of the barrack policemen was to assist the
Captain in maintaining peace and order within the barrack, and
more particularly to supervise the work of the cleaners. Each
horse-box was swept out daily by its occupants, or by anybody
else whom they cared to employ ; but the sweeping and swilling
of the central passage was entrusted to two men who were each
paid about five marks a week out of a fund to which all the
inmates of the barrack contributed ten pfennige (about one
penny) a week. The cleaners had also to remove daily in a
wooden crate the little tin boxes and canisters that had contained
preserved meats, fruits, or biscuits, from England, and that
were useless to the owners : the tin receptacles were gathered
from all barracks, heaped together at the far end of the Camp,
and afterwards conveyed in railway-trucks to an ammunition
factory. Thus did the Prussian War Office, with its marvellous
system of utilising refuse, directly benefit by the contents of
3ur parcels. The cleaners had also to remove periodically the
large wooden box stationed in the doorway of each barrack, into
which we threw pieces of old and mouldy bread. It was no
unusual sight in the later months, when bread became scarce,
to see some of our coloured fellow-prisoners and even our German
guards rummaging among these boxes to discover bits of bread
that were still eatable. The pieces taken away were said to be
used for swines' food. In addition to the crate for tins and the
dox for bread remnants, each barrack was furnished outside
with a large wooden bin for miscellaneous rubbish, which was
:leared every week by a paid work-gang ; and also with a barrel
: or liquid refuse, such as dinner and tea slops, which was like-
wise removed by paid workers. On the wall above the dust-

64 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

bin was a notice strictly forbidding the throwing of bread or the
emptying of slops into this receptacle, and many a man had
" seventy-two hours " for violating the rule. As for the firemen,
their duty was to fill a pail with water and hurry with it to the
scene of the reported conflagration whenever a fire-drill took
place. Throughout the period of my internment there was no (
more serious outbreak than the smouldering of some papers in
an outhouse ; and only on one occasion was the hose brought
into play, just for practice sake, when it was directed against
the roof of the negroes' wooden barrack and aroused the childish
delight of the occupants.

When we first came into the Camp the kitchens were in the
hands of a private contractor, who was paid by the military
authority sixty-six pfennige (eightpence) per head per day for
the three scanty meals that he provided us. Formerly a humble
cardboard-box maker, the contractor amassed a little fortune
by spiriting out at night the carcases of meat that he brought in
during the day for our consumption ; but as soon as the swindle
was detected the military authorities undertook the commissariat,
themselves, and in March, 1915, placed the two kitchens entirely
in the hands of the prisoners. The captains then appointed two (
honorary inspectors to look after each kitchen (Messrs. R. H.
Carrad and G. Ferguson, and Messrs. E. Pyke and H. Kastner)
and an expert meat inspector (Mr. J. Gelin), whilst a staff of
about forty men was engaged for the work of each kitchen.
This staff included cooks, butchers, potato-peelers, boiler men,
waggon men, firemen, etc., and the total weekly wages bill,
paid by the American Embassy from British funds, was 464
marks, of which 150 marks were borne by the military authorities.

From the very first days of our internment, whenever any
rough work in the Camp had to be done, volunteers were called
for in some of the barracks, and if a sufficient number of men
did not respond anybody who happened to be standing near
was ordered by the non-commissioned officers to fall in with the
volunteers and assist them. This method of carrying out public
work was repugnant to the prisoners and detrimental to the
work. Although an attempt was made to requisition helpers from
all the. barracks in turn, many men disappeared when the call
for volunteers was issued ; others deliberately refused on the
ground that the military authorities had no right to compel

COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION 65

them to work ; so that the soldiers in charge of the work-gangs
capriciously seized upon any passer-by, irrespective of age,
strength, or suitability, and pressed him into service. Early
in 1915 a scheme was worked out by which all men fit for work
in each barrack were divided into gangs of fifteen with a foreman,
who would be called upon in rotation ; but this scheme im-
mediately broke down. Matters came to a head when the
kitchens were taken over by the military authorities, as there
were many tons of potatoes, turnips, and other food-stuffs which
had arrived for the Camp at the Ruhleben railway siding, and
which had to be unloaded and hauled in carts to the far end of
the Camp, a distance of about half a mile along a very bad road.
The gangs that were collected for the work consisted mostly of
men who were utterly unaccustomed to such heavy labour,
with the result that the work proceeded slowly and friction
ensued between the prisoners and their guards. It was therefore
found inevitable that paid gangs should be formed of men fit
for and used to such work. Accordingly four gangers or foremen
were appointed whose duty was to engage and supervise as many
men as were necessary for carrying out particular jobs, and the
general supervision of the fatigue parties was entrusted to Mr.
Lawrence M. Sharp, the wages being paid out of British funds.
Until the beginning of March, 1915, the chief work that had
to be performed consisted in emptying the rubbish bins that
were in front of the barracks into a cart, and hauling the refuse
out of the camp to some trenches half a mile away into which it
was deposited. The trenches had also been excavated by forced
parties. But with the transference of the kitchen management
to the prisoners, the fatigue parties had regularly to haul all food
supplies from the railway siding to the kitchen. They also con-
structed about half a mile of roads across the swamps and
morasses through which we had to wade in the first winter, and
brought cartloads of ashes from a neighbouring electric-light
station and engineering works for the purpose ; they assisted in
the overhauling and repairing of the drains ; they carried out
some gardening in a small wood beyond the precincts of the
Camp, which was reserved for the use of the military officers ;
and they unloaded all the parcels from England delivered at the
railway siding and hauled them into the Camp in a heaped-up cart
dragged with the aid of ropes. The foremen were paid ten marks

5

66 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

a week without overtime, whilst the men in the gangs received
five marks and overtime at proportionate rates. But they were
certainly not overworked, as they had only six hours' work a day,
three hours on Saturday, and a complete rest on Sunday.

In addition to the three " meals " from the kitchen, we were
also given, during the first few months, a three-pound loaf of
black "war-bread" every three days. This bread was made
of wheat, rye, and potato-meal, with an occasional admixture
of bran and straw wisps. I often found wisps one inch long in
this Kriegsbrot, which was very unpalatable at first, but which
we made appetizing with a liberal coating of butter and mar-
garine with jam. Owing to the gritty nature of some of its
ingredients, this bread often caused diarrhoea, and it was es-
chewed as much as possible. Until Christmas, 1914, we could
buy fresh rolls in the morning, and for another two months we
could still buy brown bread at the canteen. But from about
March, 1915, we were wholly restricted to the " war-bread,"
which was especially made for prisoners of war and was much
inferior to any bread sold to the German population. Simul-
taneously with this restriction the allowance was reduced from
one-third to one-fifth of a loaf (about ten ounces) per day, but
as a compensation we were occasionally given potatoes and dried
herrings for supper. At first the entire barrack had to march
under military escort every third, and then every fifth, day to the
military store in the Camp, where each man received his loaf ;
later a certain number went up in rotation to fetch the entire
supply for the barrack ; and as the last stage in the " bread-
fetching " every barrack was supplied with two large baskets,
and the loaves were fetched in them by paid carriers. But
simultaneously with the improvement in the bread-fetching
machinery increased our independence of it, for we began to
receive white loaves, and " Ho vis " and " Veda " loaves from
England, and later still, but more important, two long white
loaves in perforated brown "cartons" from the "Bureau de Secours
aux Prisonniers de Guerre" at Berne. The bread from England
often arrived, especially in summer, in an unsuitable condition,
owing to the mould developed in the three weeks' journey, but
the Berne bread, despite its many holes, was welcome, as it
reached us in seven or eight days. Many months after the
restriction of " war-bread " was introduced we were able to buy

COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION 67

at the Camp bread-store a somewhat superior brown loaf, about
two pounds in weight, for sixpence, but comparatively few
prisoners availed themselves of the opportunity owing to the
regular supply of Berne bread.

The food gratuitously supplied by the military authorities,
if it had all been eatable, might possibly have kept us on the
verge of subsistence ; but fortunately we were able to supple-
ment our scanty rations by purchases at the canteens. One of
these was devoted to the sale of such articles as butter, margarine,
cheese, jam, sugar, sardines, etc., whilst the other, in a little
shed all by itself, was the emporium for tinned fruits, tinned
vegetables, sweets, and similar luxuries. The latter canteen,
owing to the large pond that formed around it whenever heavy
rains fell, was christened " Pond Stores," and when it was re-
moved in the autumn of 1915 to the Ruhleben shopping centre
it was designated on a sign-board, " Ye Olde Ponde Stores."
The serving in the canteens was at first done by German girls,
but six months after our internment all such " petticoat influ-
ence ' ' was rigorously removed, and the canteens were staffed
by prisoners clad in white grocers' overalls. Our shopping
centre received the name of " Bond Street," though anything
so unlike that fashionable thoroughfare it would have been
difficult to imagine. In Bond Street were ranged on one side
the grocery, coffee and mineral water drinks, dry stores (pencils,
brushes, copy-books, laces, etc.), tobacconist, shoemaker, tailor,
and watchmaker ; whilst on the other side were the police
station (afterwards removed across the way), book and music
shop, special orders office, " gentlemen's outfitters," theatre
box-office, and photograph orders office. Outside the grocery
and dry stores were prominent price-lists, with an indication of
the articles not in stock, which latterly grew in number and
importance. There was a sensation in October, 1915, when a
notice announced that the price of butter had risen to three
marks, and a panic later when a fresh notice declared that the
arrival of further consignments of butter was extremely improb-
able. The prices at the canteens, which were all under the
control of prisoners, supervised by the Canteen Committee,
fluctuated considerably : at first higher prices were demanded
than those in Berlin, and then the prices of necessaries were
reduced below the Berlin tariff, whilst the prices of luxuries

68 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

(candied fruits, tinned vegetables, etc.) were slightly raised, so
that the profit on the latter partially covered the loss on the
former. The German woman who originally had charge of the
" Pond Stores " afterwards acted as buyer for the canteens,
especially of fresh fruit and greengrocery. At the special orders
office we were able to order from Berlin any artide not stocked
at the various canteens, such as a table, deck-chair, portmanteau,
and so forth ; but we had to wait about ten days before the
arrival of the articles (of which we were informed by a card
delivered by our internal post) and we then had to pay a commis-
sion of about 10 per cent on the price, which was pocketed by
the military authorities. All the orders sent out of the Camp
had to pass through the military control, so that it was impossible
to escape being mulcted in this fashion ; and if any prisoners
addressed an order direct to a Berlin firm it was returned or
suppressed by the German Censor. The authorities also exacted
a commission of 7^ per cent on the sales at all the canteens.

The important and complicated questions of finance involved
by the foregoing and other activities were in the hands of a
special committee, of which Mr. J. P. Jones was chairman.
Three separate accounts were kept : the Camp Fund account,
which comprised the payment of fatigue gangs, repairs and
losses, and general Camp improvements ; the Relief Fund
account, comprising the weekly distribution of relief money to
needy prisoners ; and the Surplus Profits, etc., account. The
funds for the first two accounts were supplied by the American
Embassy in Berlin from money remitted for the purpose by the
British Government. The doling out of a weekly sum of five
marks to destitute prisoners (about 1600 in all) began in the
spring of 1915 : the allowance was only a loan, and each re-
cipient had to sign a weekly undertaking that he would repay
the amount as soon as circumstances permitted. Careful inquiry
was made by the Relief Fund Committee and by the barrack
captains to prevent any abuse of the fund, and after the weekly
allowance was temporarily reduced in the spring of 1916 to
three marks (upon the discovery that the total weekly takings
at the canteens were actually less than the total weekly sum
distributed in relief), it was again raised to four marks. The
Surplus Profits fund was made up out of profits on the dry
stores, boiler-house (hot water supply), proceeds of concerts,

CANTEENS AND STORES

THE BILL-POSTING STATION

COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION 69

library fines, etc., and was applied partly to covering losses on
various Camp enterprises, and partly to the reduction of prices
of food-stuffs. Thus, in the period from November 6, 1914,
to September 30, 1915, the sum of 39,851 marks was realized
as profits, of which 26,668 marks were devoted to covering losses
on the canteen (23,660 marks), " Pond Stores," the tailoring,
carpenters' and barbers' shops, and the building of new shops,
leaving a balance of 13,182 marks to be applied to reducing the
prices of food-stuffs. The boiler-house, at which we obtained
hot water at a very small charge (by means of tickets, which
were sold in books of fifty for one mark, and one of which entitled
you to a good-sized can of hot water), produced a profit of over
900 marks in three months.

The Finance Committee included within its operations all the
various business undertakings conducted within the Camp, such
as tailors, shoemakers, watchmakers, carpenters, and barbers,
and the military authorities forbade all private trading, so that
a good portion of the profits made on the industry and commerce
in the Ruhleben community was devoted to wiping out com-
mercial losses and reducing the prices of food-stuffs. There
was a constant and considerable amount of criticism by the
prisoners of the administration of the Camp's finances, at first
owing to the veil of secrecy that was hung over them, and after-
wards owing to the manner in which many different items were
lumped together ia the balance-sheets ; and although the
accounts were audited by chartered accountants and checked
and passed by the American Embassy's accountant, it is re-
grettable that the captains never succeeded in bringing to rest
the tongue of rumour that uttered so many uncharitable things
about them. Charges, however unfounded, that were ceaselessly
circulated, were ultimately believed because no serious attempt
was made to refute them.

The Committees of the Education, Entertainments, and
Sports departments all had their separate accounts, from which
parts of the profits were also transferred to the Surplus Profits
fund. The Education Committee had control over the Camp
School, the lectures, literary circles, libraries, and the periodicals
published at Ruhleben. The Entertainments Committee em-
braced within its scope the affairs of the dramatic societies, the
musical society, the debating society, and the cinema palace ;

70 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

whilst the Sports Control Committee governed all the various
sporting activities — football and cricket, golf and tennis, hockey
and lacrosse, " la pelote " and physical drill.

There remains one other important feature in the scheme of
organization : the parcel post. This was naturally under the
control of the military authorities, but all the hard work con-
nected therewith was discharged by the prisoners. The parcels
from England were conveyed through Holland in sealed vans
that arrived intact at the railway siding opposite the Camp.
The vans were opened by the military authorities in the presence
of prisoners, and their contents were loaded by the fatigue parties
on to carts which they dragged — sixteen men at a time — to the
parcels office in the Camp. Voluntary workers sorted out the
parcels and made out alphabetical lists each day of the prisoners
for whom packages arrived. There were separate adjoining
offices for parcels from England and for those from Germany,
and there were separate alphabetical lists arranged ; and it was
instructive to note how in the course of time the English list
gradually lengthened and the German list gradually shrank.
The lists were posted early in the morning on one of the boiler-
houses, and the delivery of the parcels began at eight in summer
and at nine in winter. The prisoners lined up outside the office-
window, in two separate lines, A to K, and L to Z, according
to the initials of their surnames, and signed for the slips entitling
them to their parcels ; and afterwards they waited until their
names were called out. Very often half an hour and even more
elapsed between the time a man lined up and the time he left with
his happy burden, so that many prisoners engaged and paid their
poorer comrades to do the waiting and fetching for them. But
before a parcel was handed over a military officer or "' non-
com." opened it and examined its contents, to see whether it
contained such contraband articles as whisky, English news-
papers, or letters, which were invariably confiscated, though
letters were delivered after passing through the censorship. The
prisoners at Ruhleben were absolutely dependent upon parcels
of food-stuffs, owing to their scanty rations, and the number of
those received from relatives, friends, and various professional
and charitable societies gradually rose until they amounted to
about 40,000 in May, 1916. But in consequence of the dis-
quieting reports received from Dr. A. E. Taylor, the medical

COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION 71

expert of the American Embassy, on the decline in quality and
quantity of the Camp fare, and on the fact that a few hundred
prisoners received no parcels at all, the British Government
began to dispatch 600 parcels a day for free distribution, quite
apart from the increased shoals of parcels still sent by private
individuals and public bodies.

Note to Page 61 . — In consequence of representations on the matter made by
the British Government, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was informed
early in October, 1916, that remittances by money order to British prisoners of
war in Germany would now be paid in full, and that the sums previously
deducted by the German military authorities would be credited to the payees
(The Times, Oct. 6, 1916).

CHAPTER IX

EVENTS OF THE FIRST WINTER

Camp hardships — Fashions in dress — Domestic duties — Bill-posting station —
Parcels delivered by hand — Prohibition of visits from mothers and wives — After-
noon walks — Humour under difficulties — Bathing excursion — Chess tournament
— Concert in a stable-passage — A scene of varied occupations — Christmas —
Handel's Messiah — Epidemics of diarrhoea — Beetles in soup — Perpetual parades
— A " bloody " incident — The Kaiser's birthday— Stoppage of correspondence —
Fresh arrivals — Removal of French and Russian prisoners— Colonials' release
and return — Furloughs — The Hamburg bank clerks — American Ambassador's
first visit — " We want bread ! " — Visitors from the Kommandantur — A " Burns
Nicht " — Mysterious Irish meeting — First dramatic performance — A Mock
Trial.

THE Camp was in a lamentable state of unpreparedness
when we were first interned, and we had many hard-
ships to endure throughout the winter. We suffered
not only because of the insalubrious quarters in which we were
housed, or rather stabled, but also because of the insufficient
heating and lighting, the lack of hot water, and the vast swamps
that formed throughout the Camp whenever there were heavy
rains. We tried to make our horse-boxes as habitable and
comfortable as possible, swept away the cobwebs periodically,
and adorned the nakedness of the walls with bright English
pictures and photographs, whilst many a man slung a curtain
across his bed so as to secure a semblance of privacy. But how-
ever cosy we might make our boxes we could not remain in
them long at a time, as we froze to the marrow, and we grew
tired of stamping our feet on the floor-board to our mutual
annoyance. For the first few weeks we had no heating at all,
and after the boilers had at last arrived and we impatiently
watched the workmen fixing the radiators in the stable-passages
our bodies grew warm in anticipation ; but when the boilers
began to work our bodies grew cold again, for the heating did
not take effect until midday and was cut off again at six o'clock.

72

EVENTS OF THE FIRST WINTER 73

So we had to make ourselves warm by taking vigorous walks,
to and fro, along the parade in front of the grand stands, though
our hurried constitutionals were often cut short by a biting
wind, a penetrating drizzle, or a blinding snowstorm.

We soon shed the hats and collars of civilisation and donned
cloth or woollen caps, which we pulled over our ears, and huge
woollen mufflers which we wrapped around us ; and then we
put aside our box-calf boots, unless we had goloshes for them,
and put on huge clogs (after swathing our feet with flannel and
wearing an extra pair of woollen socks) or Wellington boots,
which made a fearful clattering on the stone floor of the stable-
passage. Later, many men arrayed themselves on wet days,
of which we had a surfeit, in oilskins and sou'-westers, and as
we tramped to and fro we looked like a strange medley of
Arctic explorers, lifeboatmen, and Norwegian ski-runners.
The sailors were the best apparelled for the adverse conditions
of soil and weather to which we were exposed, and they were
the hardiest too. But the ordinary land-lubber, who had to
wade ankle-deep through mud and sleet and snow, on his three
daily journeys to the kitchen to fetch his meals, uttered many
a smothered oath as he felt the water penetrate to his skin. Yet
there were repeated cries of " Are we down-hearted ? " as we
tramped through the miry morass, answered by a lusty deter-
mined " No ! " from hundreds of throats. An inventive prisoner
manufactured wooden soles, about two inches thick, which we
could secure below our boots by means of string and straps, and
thus partially protect our feet, and he did a brisk trade with
them at one mark per pair. The plight of the poor prisoners
who had no change of clothing, as well as of those who could not
receive any from home except after long delay, was indeed sad
until the American Embassy sent in large consignments of
underclothing, sweaters, corduroys, socks, caps, and head
protectors, and protectors for soles. These articles were bought
partly with voluntary subscriptions raised in our midst in our
first week's internment, and partly with money from the British
Government. They were distributed by the captains in their
respective barracks gratuitously to the needy, and at a nominal
charge to those with some means.

We found some distraction in those early days in doing various
domestic duties that had formerly been discharged for us by

74 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

others. We swept our horse-box every morning, we blacked
our boots, we shook our straw sacks and bedding, we cleaned
our crockery under the stable-taps, and made our knives bright
by thrusting them into the sandy soil. Some of us were even
adept enough to patch a pair of trousers, sew a button on, or
darn a sock. But it was not long before the miserable monotony
of these occupations palled upon us, and we employed men, at
rates from one to two marks a week, to relieve us of such work ;
whilst the professional tailors, darners, carpenters, shoeblacks,
and others, who advertised their craft on the central boiler-house,
soon attracted plentiful custom. The boiler-house became a
regular bill-posting station, and was gradually plastered with all
sorts of notices and announcements, private and official, some
mere pencil scrawls, others well printed by a practised sign-
writer, and others again adorned with some coloured device or
character, that gave life and variety to the dingy walls of the
boiler-house. There we read that James McHuggins, of Barrack
XI, Box 30, repaired boots and shoes better and cheaper than
anybody else in the Camp ; that N.G.T., of Barrack III, Loft B,
was willing to exchange Spanish for Russian conversation ; that
all who were interested in forming a dramatic society should
communicate with Mr. X, Barrack II ; that all who would like
to form a British Ruhleben Association for social intercourse
after their return to England should meet on the following
Saturday morning, at 9 a.m., on the Second Grand Stand ; that
Mr. R.H.B., m.a., B.sc. (Lond.), of Barrack VII, Box 19, was
open to coach pupils for any of the London examinations in arts
or science ; that Mr. Y, of Barrack V, Loft A, late of Sheffield,
would like to meet Mr. Z, who, he understood, was also in the
Camp ; that Mr. S. McT., of Barrack IX, Box 13, would award
two marks to the gentleman who restored to him his notebook,
which was of no use to anybody except the owner. In this wise
did we get to know of one another's business, aspirations, and
misfortunes ; and as we moved from one notice to the other we
exchanged comment and criticism, that sometimes led to lengthy
conversation and sometimes to an agreeable acquaintanceship.

In the early days the monotony was somewhat broken by the
parcels delivered at the gate by the mothers, wives, sisters, and
sweethearts of prisoners domiciled in Berlin, and by the frantic
efforts of the latter to catch a fleeting glimpse of the dear one as

EVENTS OF THE FIRST WINTER 75

the sentry held the gate ajar for half a minute. But the crowding
of the prisoners every morning near the entrance, despite the
efforts of our civilian police to keep them at a distance, led the
military authorities to prohibit the personal delivery of parcels,
which had henceforth all to be sent through the post. More-
over, the women who brought the gifts were not content to go
away without exchanging a word, or at least a glance, with
those whose lot they wished to lighten ; and so the prisoners
would stand on the top of some of the wooden staircases that led
to the hay-lofts, whence they could overlook the boundary-wall
and sign or call out to their kinsfolk below, who were driven on
by the unsympathetic sentries. Those prisoners who were
caught by the barrack guards indulging in such forbidden con-
versation, or even merely standing on the top of the staircases,
were at once removed to the cells for twenty-four or forty-eight
hours ; and it was not until a high wooden screen was built
right along the balustrade of the staircase, and round the tops,
that the pathetic attempts of the women to secure a glimpse of
their men-folk ceased. The prohibition of visits from female
relatives was bitterly felt by the prisoners ; and it was not until
the 7th of April, 1916, seventeen months after our internment,
that the bowels of mercy of the Prussian War Office were stirred,
and prisoners were allowed to receive monthly visits from their
mothers and wives.

Our rigorous mode of life, aggravated by the inclement weather,
produced an outbreak of colds, influenza, and rheumatism, and
when the military doctor saw the corridor outside his room
crowded every morning with patients, he decided that we must
have recreation. The only exercise taken by most of the prisoners,
apart from pacing the parade, consisted in looking on at a game
of rounders in the space between Barracks II and XI, and
getting cold feet. Football matches had also been played for
a time, but they were stopped by the military authorities on the
ground that the windows might be broken ; and besides, the
ground used was soon required for the building of new barracks.
The recreation prescribed by the doctor consisted of walks round
the racing-track, which had hitherto been a closed paradise to
us, but these walks were so arranged as to offer little attraction.
They took place, not in the morning, when we were cold and had
to rush about to get warm, but at two o'clock, before we had had

76 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

time to digest our dinner. And as the walks were made com-
pulsory, from which exemption could be obtained only by a
doctor's certificate, many men escaped from what they con-
sidered a nuisance by hiding. But once we were on the racing
track, headed by our soldiers and captains, and striding four
abreast, barrack after barrack, we recovered our good humour
and struck up a tune to help us keep in good time, our favourite
refrain being :

" John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave ;
John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
As we go marching home ! "

Occasionally a man would make a mouth-organ out of a pocket-
comb and a piece of paper, and as he blared the melody forth we
would sing a variant text :

" John Brown's baby's got a pimple on its nose,
John Brown's baby's got a pimple on its nose ;
John Brown's baby's got a pimple on its nose,
As we go marching home ! "

And we had no sooner finished this stanza than another
barrack, swinging alongside of us, would burst forth :

" Glory, glory, Hallelujah,
Glory, glory, Hallelujah ;
Glory, glory, Hallelujah,

As we go marching home ! "

The humour that manifested itself on these marches, which
were not complete until we had circled the outer racing-track
three times, a distance of three miles in all, appeared in various
other ways on different occasions. After the first fortnight we
were not allowed, for several months, to see any other newspaper
than the halfpenny midday rag, the Berliner Zeitung am Mittag,
which seldom contained any news of importance ; but the
prisoner who vended the paper went from barrack to barrack,
shouting "Terrible Murder in Camden Town!' or "All the
Winners ! " Naturally we all laughed at these familiar home
cries, and the news vendor found a ready sale. But it was a
strange sense of humour that made us roar with laughter or
shout " Hurrah ! " whenever a fellow-prisoner smashed his dinner-

EVENTS OF THE FIRST WINTER 77

bowl whilst cleaning it under the stable-tap, or better still, if he
dropped it full of soup on the way from the kitchen. And it was
an equally incongruous sense of the fitness of things that made
some of us sing :

" It's a long, long way to Tipperary,"

when we marched for our periodical bath to the Emigrants'
Railway Station. Escorted by a couple of armed guards, and
equipped with towel and soap, we trudged, two or three hundred
at a time, each barrack in turn, through the entrance gate, and
along the main road to the station on the other side, and in batches
of twelve we stood for five minutes under a warm douche. These
bathing excursions were at first looked forward to with pleasure,
as we had a sense of freedom when marching outside the Camp ;
but the bathing conditions were so wretched that many men
preferred a stand-up bath in the privacy of their horse-box.
There was always a wild rush to be among the first to get into
the " dressing-room," which had an insufficient number of nails
on the walls for our things, and was furnished only with three
dirty old benches, without a scrap of carpet or matting on the
floor ; and old men and young had to undress and stand naked
together promiscuously beneath the showers.

In our quest of distraction we took refuge in chess, and a
regular chess epidemic broke out throughout the Camp. All the
chess-players in each barrack played against one another, and
then after each barrack had formed its team, an inter-barrack
chess tournament was arranged, which helped us to while away
many a dreary evening. Reading was difficult, even for those
who had sufficient mental repose to concentrate upon a book ;
but at any rate we soon began to organize a Camp Library
upon the substantial basis of novels and magazines. And then,
after a few sing-songs had been held in one or two barracks, with
a lurking fear that they might be suppressed by the military
authorities, a regular concert was organized in Barrack VI by
a young and energetic conductor. There were several excellent
professional musicians in the Camp, and scores of amateurs too,
but it took time before the idea of an orchestra in a prisoners'
camp matured, and the maturing was due to Mr. F. Charles
Adler. It is doubtful if a concert of such excellence had ever
before been held in a stable-passage, and Mr. Carl Fuchs, the

78 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

star of the evening, must have recalled the vision of a domed
and crowded hall as he rendered the concerto that evoked rap-
tures of applause from the throng of fellow-prisoners, making
the rafters ring again. The platform consisted of two floor-
boards from neighbouring horse-boxes placed on a couple of
benches, and the violinists even had music stands. The Acting
Commandant, Baron von Taube, who was present, was so pleased
with the performance that he gave permission for concerts to be
regularly held in the Grand Stand Hall, which, in peace times,
was used as a refreshment-room for the race-course frequenters.

Henceforth the Hall became the centre of all our public life.
Before even the first concert was given there, several weekly
debates had taken place upon controversial topics in a smoky
atmosphere, and the crowded audiences voted conscientiously
upon the motion that was always put at the end by the chair-
man. Throughout the week, and especially in the morning, the
hall was thronged and presented a scene of babel and pande-
monium, for it was the only covered place, apart from our
barracks, in which we could take shelter. There men sat on
backless benches and smoked and read, or played chess or
draughts, or taught one another foreign languages. On one side
was a movable barber's shop with waiting customers, and near
by sat a couple of cobblers plying their trade, whilst lower down
was a tailor squatting on a table. On the other side was the
Library, arranged in shelves, and diligently looked after by
amateur librarians ; while close to it was a carpenter making
tables and benches, and hammering big nails that made the lofty
roof resound. But despite the chaos and babel the conductor,
perched on a wooden box, rehearsed with his orchestra the next
Sunday's concert and raised his voice above all the din ; whilst
at the other end were gathered together a number of university
men, deliberating upon the formation of an " Arts and Science
Union," which would organize lectures and secure studying
facilities ; all heedless of which some acrobats practised their
evolutions in the air and came down upon the floor-board with
a resounding bang.

The year closed upon a gloomy Christmas, which the uneat-
able currant cake, the stick of toffee, and the bottle of sour beer
— intended to cheer us — made us look at all the more askance.
Our fellow-prisoners of German upbringing and pro-German

EVENTS OF THE FIRST WINTER 79

sympathies, of whom there were a few hundred, made a pretence
of festivities, hung festoons of coloured paper in their boxes, and
even had diminutive Christmas trees ; but for the Camp as a
whole it was a day of melancholy, and men wished one another
" A Happy Christmas ! " with their tongue in their cheek. The
festival was, indeed, formally celebrated with a remarkable
production of Handel's Messiah in the packed hall, which
was graced with the presence of the Commandant, Count von
Schwerin, Baron von Taube and the Baroness, and other military
officers. There was an enlarged orchestra, a choir of a hundred
voices, and professional solo vocalists, and we were all thrilled
by the powerful rendering of the " Hallelujah Chorus " ; so
much so, indeed, that the Commandant literally choked with
tears when, at the end, he offered up his thanks and said that
that performance of the Messiah by prisoners of war was the
most impressive that could be conceived. He felt constrained to
apologize that a collective festivity with Christmas trees was not
permitted by his superiors, and he hoped that the New Year
would see us all in the enjoyment of peace and liberty. New
Year's Day, however, saw something that threatened to develop
into a riot. For a Scotsman, clad in a kilt, with an imitation
sporran, marched out of his barrack with a bagpipe that he blew
with zest, and on either side of him and behind him strode
several friends with shouldered brooms and other martial tokens ;
and as the procession, gathering in number, passed through
Bond Street and debouched upon what was known as Trafalgar
Square and came within view of the guard-room, a couple of
guards were seized by the idea that this was monstrous conduct
for prisoners on New Year's Day. They rushed out with their
weapons, dispersed the procession, and compelled the Highlander
to return to his barrack and resume his trousers.

The winter of 1914-15 was punctuated by all sorts of annoy-
ing and exasperating incidents. In the first place it was im-
possible to get any hot water to make a cup of tea or bovril,
except from the steam condense pipes, from which the flow was
irregular and always ceased at six o'clock, and we had to rush
about from barrack to barrack, trying to bribe the soldiers to
sell us water they had boiled on their stoves — a procedure that
was naturally forbidden by the military regulations. It was not
until February, 1915, that a boiler-house was erected at the ex-

80 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

pense of the Camp Fund for the sale of hot water at a nominal
charge, the profits being added to the Camp Fund. Then there
were frequent epidemics of diarrhoea at night in different bar-
racks, owing partly to the Kommis bread made of bad potato-
meal and partly to the uncertain origin of the "dinners" and
; ' suppers." In their misguided attempts to discover the source
of these epidemics, the military authorities made us parade four
deep in front of our barracks for a bowl inspection, and the doctor,
who could not possibly scrutinize each bowl carefully, contented
himself with a cursory glance at a few in each barrack. The real
source of the evil — the camp kitchen — seemed to have escaped
the quest of the Commandant, though it was convincingly
brought home to him one evening when the captains presented
him with a bowl of soup containing worms and beetles. There
were grim mutterings of discontent that evening, especially
among the sailors, thus robbed of their scanty supper ; and the
Commandant, admitting the gravity of the complaint, yet
fearing there might be a riot, ordered the fire-bell to be sounded
at a quarter to eight and sent us all to bed like so many scolded
school-children.

Another cause of vexation were the frequent parades or
Appells that took place in all weathers, at uncertain times, and
upon the most flimsy pretext. On not a single occasion did we
hear anything pleasant at these parades : they all seemed to be
arranged for our annoyance. Time and again we had to line
up with all our military impedimenta — straw- sacks, blankets,
towels, chairs, etc.— which had to be counted and checked by
the Furier, or stores clerk, who was conscientious and incom-
petent, and kept us standing about for an hour or two, despite
a bleak wind or chilling drizzle. On one of these parades a sort
of statistical inquiry was carried out, with regard to our birth-
place, age, religion, occupation, and with a view to determine
whether we were English pure and simple, or Welsh, Scotch,
Irish, or Colonials. All these data could easily have been col-
lected from the entrance slips we had filled in, yet we were kept
standing for an hour and a half in the cold and wet until it grew
dark, and our captains admitted that no reliance could be placed
upon the figures they had obtained.

There were also three unpleasant episodes that produced more
than an evanescent impression. The first arose from the act of

EVENTS OF THE FIRST WINTER 81

a tale-bearing pro-German, who reported to the Acting Com-
mandant that he had overheard one sailor speak to another of
"those bloody Germans." Baron von Taube, who was notori-
ously ignorant of English, understood the sanguinary adjective —
one of the commonest words in the Ruhleben vocabulary — to
mean " blood-thirsty," and at once his Prussian pride was
stung. The firebell was rung, we lined up as usual, and the
Baron rushed from barrack to barrack, delivering the self-
same indignant and fatuous speech. " You call us blutige
Deutsche / " he said, " I throw the word back at you. You are
blutige Engldnder ! It's you who wanted the war. Aber unserc
Sache, Gott sel dank, steht noch gldnzend ! " (But our cause,
thank God, is still going splendidly !) We could hardly suppress
a smile at this infantile outburst, and not even the threat of
unknown punishment that he held over our heads could prevent
as from enjoying the humour of the situation. But a few hours
later, when the Baron's choler had cooled, he was enlightened
on the etymology of " bloody " by Professor F. Sefton Delmer,
the English lecturer at the Berlin University, who gave him a
private discourse on " by'r Lady," with quotations from Eliza-
bethan writers, until the Baron realised — though he did not
acknowledge — what a fool he had made of himself.

The next episode was one that was supposed to have had
political significance. A huge flagstaff was fixed in the centre of
the compound, right opposite the main entrance, so that all
German victories and fete days might be worthily celebrated in
the midst of the enemy — an index of the tolerance and delicacy
of feeling of our Teuton guardians. The first occasion on which
the flag was unfurled was the eve of January 27th, the Kaiser's
birthday, but early the following morning, lo and behold ! — the
cord was cut and the flag was lying in the mud. At once there
was a hue and cry, as though the Kaiser's throne had been
bespattered, and the military authorities thirsted for the blood
of the rebellious prisoner who had committed the deed. For,
that the culprit was an Englishman, there could not be the
least doubt in the mind of a loyal German, though there was not
the least proof. And so we were ordered to be confined to our
barracks until the sinner confessed. Nobody was allowed to
leave except to go to the latrines, which became uncomfortably
crowded, and armed guards patrolled the pestilential rendezvous
6

82 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

to prevent us from smoking. Our captains, however, with a
shrewd suspicion that the culprit was a German soldier who had
threatened to make things unpleasant for them, did not rest
until they secured the reduction of the sentence to twenty-four
hours, irrespective of a confession ; but it was not until the
captains presented a written statement in the name of the
Camp, repudiating the insult done to the German flag, that this
concession was granted.

The third disciplinary affair had more tangible consequences.
We were lined up one morning and regaled with a story about
prisoners having smuggled letters out of the Camp, and we were
told that if those who had indulged in the practice confessed they
would only be lightly punished, but that if no confessions were
forthcoming the whole Camp would be punished. And in order
to act as a spurt to the offenders, we were also told that their
names were known. The threat proved futile, and so the whole
Camp was sentenced to a Briefsperre (suspension of post) for
ten days. Throughout this period we could neither dispatch
nor receive any letter, though before the punishment was enforced
we were allowed to send off a card to our relations simply stating
that we were well and would not be able to write again for ten
days. The real motive of this punishment, however, was com-
monly believed to be not punitive but utilitarian, as the censors
had accumulated stacks of correspondence, and it had been
decided that all communications for abroad should be delayed
ten days.

A certain development had been meanwhile taking place in
the external appearance, both structural and personal, of our
community. The eleven stables and the Tea House soon proved
inadequate for the accommodation of Germany's band of British
civilian prisoners, so that two large wooden barracks, with water-
proof roofs, were added, and as they were being built some of us
optimistically surmised that they were intended for recreation
purposes. We were always eager to interpret changes that were
going on around us in a favourable sense, and when we saw a six-
foot wire fence, barbed on the top, fixed along a ten-foot wall,
we made sure that this precaution heralded the conversion of
Ruhleben into a military prisoners' camp — and our own release.
But our predictions were falsified by the arrival of fresh batches
of prisoners from the camps of Senne, Celle, and Munster, from

EVENTS OF THE FIRST WINTER 83

the Berlin prisons, Stadtvogtei and Ploetzensee, and from various
towns in Belgium and Northern France. Those who came from
other camps presented a pathetic spectacle of dejection and bore
conspicuous marks of identification. They had a large letter Z
standing for Zivilgefangener (civil prisoner), painted indelibly
in green or red on their coat-sleeve ; and many of them also
had a triangular red or yellow patch sewn on the back of their
coat, and a long stripe of similar colour down the leg of their
trousers, but neither patch nor stripe could be removed as they
simply replaced corresponding pieces of cloth that had been
removed from their garments. Some of them had been prisoners
since the outbreak of war ; others, including fishermen captured
on trawlers in the North Sea, had been made prisoners later ;
but all were profuse in their abhorrence of the privations and
punishments they had undergone and in their praise of the ' ' com-
forts" of Ruhleben. And when the men from Senne told us
how, for the first few weeks, they had to sleep in mud-huts made
with their own hands ; and those from Celle how, for some
petty offence, they were tied to a tree while standing on a brick,
which was then removed ; and those from Munster, how they
were exposed to the caprices of brutal soldiers, who would shoot
at the slightest pretext ; we realized to our horror that there
were worse places than Ruhleben. The men from Belgium told
us that notices had been posted in the different towns, calling
upon the Englishmen to report themselves to the police, and
promising that nothing would happen to them if they complied ;
but after they had reported themselves and paid a few subsequent
visits to the police they were one day arrested, imprisoned in a
local jail, and then transported to Berlin. One big batch of
new prisoners, about two hundred altogether, consisted of British
coloured subjects — natives of West Africa, Aden, and the West
Indies — who made Barrack XIII hum the whole day long with
their boyish chatter and their banjo-strumming.

We had not only arrivals but also departures, for some seventy
Russians and thirty Frenchmen who had been in our Camp
from the very beginning were transferred before Christmas to
their compatriots in the Holzminden Camp. Moreover, natural-
ised British subjects who (like Mr. Carl Fuchs) had been born in
Germany, had discharged their military duties, and were over
forty-five were released, though not allowed to leave the country.

84 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

And Colonials who had been interned inadvertently on the day
of general internment, and who produced papers in proof of their
colonial origin, were, after weeks of official inquiries and negotia-
tions, also released. But when, in the middle of February, 1915,
the order for internment of British Colonial subjects was issued,
the released men were brought back again, together with many
who had remained at liberty all the time, and they were quartered
in two further new wooden barracks, XIV and XV, built near the
Tea House. The inmates of these two barracks were provided
with a separate wash-house, which stood between them ; whereas
those in Barracks XII and XIII had to wash and get water in
the stables nearest to them.

In addition to these goings and comings there were many men
who, for various weighty reasons, personal or professional,
secured a furlough from a day to a month, and who, upon their
return, were besieged with inquiries as to what things were like
outside. The favourite device for obtaining a day's furlough
was to induce a friend or relative to issue a summons against one
for some debt, real or fictitious ; and when the prisoner under
military escort appeared in court the prosecutor was absent ;
and thus an adjournment was attained, which meant another
complete day's furlough. But when the military authorities dis-
covered the trick they granted a prisoner only just sufficient
time to attend the hearing, and the magistrate marked the time
of its conclusion on the prisoner's paper, so that gradually the
trick was dropped. The most remarkable episode connected
with the granting of furloughs was that which concerned some
bank clerks. The German Government, having received com-
plaints from some Hamburg banks about the shortage of clerks,
and having ascertained that German bank clerks were at liberty
in England, released eighteen bank clerks from Ruhleben and
allowed them to return to Hamburg. But on the train journey
the released prisoners apparently gave vent to their joy too
exuberantly and actually drank champagne and spoke English
in the dining-car ; whereupon there were cries of consternation
and indignation that were subsequently echoed throughout the
German press. The Government had no peace until a few weeks
later it again arrested the clerks, who returned to Ruhleben
sadder and wiser men.

It was a red-letter day in the history of the Camp when, in

THE "POND" STORE

HE PARADE IN WINTER

■

',

EVENTS OF THE FIRST WINTER 85

March, 1915, the American Ambassador, arriving in his private
motor-car, paid his first visit to our community. Welcomed by
the Commandant, he was ushered into the Captains' Office,
where, in the presence of the military officers, some of the cap-
tains and representatives of the prisoners laid before him various
specific grievances for consideration. These included the un-
healthy over-crowding in the stables, the disgusting latrines, the
badly equipped hospital, the internment of the invalids from
Homburg and Nauheim, the unwarranted detention of the
merchant seamen, and the prohibition of visits from female
relatives. The Ambassador paid a visit to a " bog," but a mere
glimpse from the entrance and an inevitable whiff were sufficient.
He also clambered up the staircase to the loft of Barrack VI,
accompanied by the Commandant, and a mere glance and a
sniff of the fetid atmosphere made him recoil with an angry
shudder. " This is terrible ! " he said to Count von Schwerin,
not venturing beyond the threshold. Throughout the Ambassa-
dor's stay a huge crowd assembled round his motor-car, dis-
cussing the great event, upon which high hopes were placed.
One man wrote with his finger upon the mud with which the back
of the car was bespattered : " We want bread ! " and when a
German guard, learning the purport of the inscription, attempted
to efface it with his forage cap he was hustled aside by the
chauffeur to our great amusement. Other men scribbled notes
which they threw into the car as it left with the Ambassador,
and thus provided him with additional material for reflection on
his homeward journey.

A few days later we received a visit from some representatives
of the Berlin Kommandantur , doubtless as a result of the com-
municated impressions of the Ambassador. The visitors included
General von Kessel, the Commander-in-Chief and virtual dictator
of the Mark of Brandenburg, a stalwart septuagenarian as straight
as a poplar, with a red collar that seemed six inches high. It
was an ideal morning for an official inspection, as the rain had
fallen throughout the night, and pools, ponds, and floods had
formed in various parts of the Camp. The largest pond, as usual,
was that around the Pond Stores, which was quite marooned,
and which had to be approached by would-be purchasers, with
some risk of a ducking, along a plank stretching from the shore
to a barrel, from which another plank provided the retreat to the

86 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

opposite bank. The size of the pond was about 130 feet long and
25 feet wide, and its depth ranged from 6 to 30 inches — an
eloquent testimony to the deficiency of the drains. The German
woman in charge of the store had to rise above the flood by
standing on a box, but the swelling tide caused her to cease
business unusually early. A wag had chalked upon the store :
' Mixed bathing not allowed," and another prisoner fixed a pole
into the muddy soil, bearing a cardboard inscription : " Good
fishing here." And as the military visitors passed this scene
they saw a prisoner in top-boots, oil-skin, and sou-wester,
angling in the water and pulling out a dripping clog. The stern
features of the military relaxed, and one of them remarked :
' Die Engldnder haben Humor " (The Englishmen have humour).
We afterwards heard that General von Kessel was satisfied with
the captains' administration of the Camp, and as a mark of
appreciation he promised to secure us the use of one-half of the
race-course for sports. But when the concession came into
force several weeks later, it was at a cost to the British Govern-
ment of £10 a month !

The latter half of winter and the early spring were also
marked by some interesting entertainments in the Grand Stand
Hall. The first was a traditional " Burns Nicht," comprising
Scotch songs, readings from the poet, an address on Burns,
orchestral contributions, bagpipe selections, and a sword dance
by a Highlander in costume. The crowded assembly was roused
to a high pitch of enthusiasm by the programme so full of home
associations ; but the gem of the evening came at the end when
the Baron, who was present with his wife, expressed his thanks
for the pleasant and instructive programme and concluded with
the cry: " Hoch die Schotten!" (Long live the Scots!)— as
though the Scots, forsooth, were an anti-British nationality.
This peculiar misconception of the relation of the Scots to
England was also reflected in the case of the Irish, though per-
haps here with a little more justification. One day early in
March all Irishmen were requested to go to the Captains' Office,
but as suspicion was at once aroused about the object of the
request hardly more than a dozen presented themselves. We
never heard exactly what happened in the office, as the Irishmen
who attended declared they were sworn to secrecy. All that we
learned was that some nameless visitor addressed them in English.

1

EVENTS OF THE FIRST WINTER 87

I knew that Roger Casement was then in Berlin, but I could not
discover whether he, or a deputy of his, was the visitor. Shortly
afterwards, however, a few Irishmen were suddenly released,
and we irresistibly associated this event with the mysterious
meeting.

As the long inclement winter gradually drew to a close our
Dramatic Society, which for weeks had been rehearsing Bernard
Shaw's Androcles and the Lion in a dilapidated shed, at last
ventured to present its efforts in the Grand Stand Hall on a
stage that had been developed by cunning carpenters out of a
refreshment buffet, and that was properly equipped with foot-
lights and curtains. A crowded and sympathetic audience
declared the performance, especially of the women's parts, a
brilliant success, and the production, which was well staged
and costumed, had a three nights' run. Shortly afterwards we
were regaled with the first Ruhleben " revue," entitled Legs and
the Woman, which satirized various features and personalities
of our Camp in a good-humoured spirit, but rather disappointed
the luscious visions that some hot-blooded youths had formed.
And then came our Mock Trial, written in collaboration by Mr.
H. F. Hamlyn and myself, and which consisted of a breach of
promise case, " Finnick v. Popplewell," in which the Hon.
Horatio Popplewell (Mr. J. H. Pike), a returned prisoner from
Ruhleben, was sued by Miss Aramintha Finnick (Mr. C. G.
Rayner) for heavy damages. The trial was held at the " Muddle-
sex " Assize Courts by Mr. Justice Dearly (Mr. H. Boss), but
despite the diverting evidence of the plaintiff's uncle, Colonel
John Cain-Pepper, d.s.o. (Mr. Alex Boss), of the defendant's
landlady, Mrs. Jenny Bottle (Mr. Reuben Castang), and of
others, and the vigorous speeches of the opposing leading counsel,
Sir Edwin Parson, K.c, and Sir Isaac Bluefuss, K.c. (my col-
laborator and myself), the Judge summed up in an original
speech, in which he roundly abused counsel, witnesses, and
jury, offered his own heart and fortune to the injured lady, and
danced with her across the stage to the gladdening strains of the
Wedding March. Thus did the first winter of our discontent
close with a glorious note of merriment of our own creation.

CHAPTER X

IN PRISON AGAIN

Circumventing the Censor — A painful cross-examination — En route for
" Stadtvogtei " — Vigilance at Spandau Station — Glimpses of gaiety — Truants
and sweethearts — The building in Dircksen Strasse — A cell for four — Ordering
food — A cosmopolitan jail- — A persecuted Russian — Convict and warrior-
Allied fellow-sufferers — Under suspicion of espionage — A Boer giant— Solitary
conlinement — The convicts' parade — Polish labourers — English and American
arrivals — A Serbian's smoke — Attempted suicide — An official visitor — A m} r s-
terious Rumanian — A midnight party — The Aerschot outrages — Humane
warders — Military regime — A journalist prisoner- — Back to Ruhleben.

THE first great sensational incident that occurred at
Ruhleben Camp since its establishment was the deporta-
tion on March 30, 1915, of thirteen prisoners to the
" Stadvogtei" Jail in Berlin — ten on account of smuggling letters
out, and the other three on account of unlawfully absenting
themselves overnight from the Camp. By what I may now
regard as a singular stroke of good fortune I was among the
first category of offenders, and was thus able to enrich my
experiences as a prisoner of war at little extra cost and with
comparatively little inconvenience.

The military authorities had long suspected that the Censor
was being circumvented, but they had no incriminating proof
in their hands until a letter that had been smuggled out of the
Camp was treacherously forwarded to the Commandant. The
latter summoned the writer and extracted the confession that
the smuggling had been done for him by a fellow-prisoner, S.
Thereupon S. was summoned, and threatened and brow-beaten,
until he divulged the names of all the others for whom he had
spirited letters out of the Camp. Each of those thus betrayed
was called separately into the military administration office,
and was examined by a court consisting of Count von Schwerin,
Baron von Taube, Rittmeister von Miiller, and the truculent
' Calculating Councillor " Gliesch. Never shall I forget the

88

IN PRISON AGAIN 89

brief but painful cross-examination to which I was subjected
by this court.

The " Calculating Councillor," standing at his desk, addressed
the questions to me, whilst the other three officers were seated.
He began by declaring that he knew all I had done and merely
required a confirmation of it. I admitted that I had had a letter
of no military consequence smuggled out, but the " Calculating
Councillor " was not content with this. He snarled at me and
threatened that if I did not tell the whole truth I would be
imprisoned in a military fortress until the end of the war. But
I stuck to my guns and was dismissed with a frown. The same
ordeal was undergone by the other smugglers, though the offence
of one or two was considered to be of deeper dye, as some soldiers
were implicated. The iniquitous soldiers had been ferreted out
independently by the authorities, and we afterwards learned
that they were sentenced to periods of punishment ranging from
ten to fourteen days' strict arrest.

On the morning after our cross-examination we were called
to the office again, and each of us in turn signed the protocol of
his particular declaration. It was such a business-like procedure
that I almost lulled myself into the belief that all was well, and
that the imposing apparatus of a military court was created
simply to strike terror into our breasts and to frighten us and all
the other undiscovered smugglers from continuing our knavish
tricks. Moreover, the sensation aroused by the escape on the
previous night of three prisoners who voluntarily returned in the
morning made our own misdeed appear to us the veriest trifle,
and we innocently thought that it would divert the attention of
the authorities from us. But early in the evening we were
suddenly shaken out of our delusions, for the order went forth
that we were to pack our things immediately and get ready to
be deported.

The head-guard of my barrack raged and bellowed as he had
never before done within our ken, for he had the questionable
distinction of harbouring most of the smugglers under his own
roof. Nobody knew to what place we were going to be taken
or for how long, and all sorts of contrary instructions about our
travelling arrangements flitted about. Faced by an uncertain
fate, I determined to make the best of the situation by filling
my handbag with books, paper, underlinen, toilet requisites and

90 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

eatables, all jumbled together, and by packing up a blanket and
pillow. As we passed, heavily laden, out of the barrack, we filed
through a lane of our friends, who showered upon us their good
wishes and bade us be of hearty cheer ; and as we tramped
across the compound and made our way to the gate we found
that a dense crowd of our fellow-prisoners had gathered together
in order to see us off. The guard was called out to keep the crowd
back, for the authorities feared a disturbance. Many friends
called out " Au re voir ! " as I disappeared behind the wooden
screen near the gate.

At length the gate opened, and we answered to our names
as we filed out — ten smugglers and three truants. We were
escorted by our head-guard, who was a non-commissioned officer
and in charge of the transport, and four privates, all helmeted
and armed. We managed to secure a little cart, upon which we
all threw our heavy luggage, and then we set out upon the march
to Spandau Station. It was a mild evening, with a glorious
sunset over the smoking chimneys of the arsenal town, and I
stepped out briskly as I took my first long walk outside the
Camp, and discussed with my comrades in distress the probable
punishment that would be imposed upon us. Our guard told us
that we were being taken to the " Stadtvogtei " Jail, but whether
we were going to be formally tried or whether our sentence had
already been decided — nothing was known. Our luggage kept
tumbling off the little rickety cart, which was pulled by a German
schoolboy, and two of our party walked on either side of it to
prevent further mishaps. When we approached the station our
head-guard warned us not to attempt to throw any letter into
the letter-box, as a military patrol was on the look-out. The
supposition that we letter-smugglers, on our way to jail, would
attempt a repetition of the offence for which we had just been
condemned, could only have been conceived by one who was
in constant association with hardened criminals : and our head-
guard, in private life, was a policeman. We thought it strange,
too, that we had not been searched before we left the Camp.

As we ascended the staircase to the platform our guards
whispered to us " Kein Englisch sprechen ! " and when we saw
the military officers parading up and down we appreciated the
sense of the advice. One of the waiting-rooms had been turned
into a Bahnhof-Wache (Station Guard-Room), and was apparently

IN PRISON AGAIN 91

used as a temporary lock-up for any suspicious characters. The
military guards were distinguished by a white arm-band, and
among the people waiting for a train I noticed several men who,
by the sharp eye they kept upon everything around them,
appeared to me to be detectives. All these signs of vigilance did
not surprise us, for Spandau is a garrison town and an important
centre for the manufacture of ammunition. Some members of our
party, in an unguarded moment, bought the evening newspapers
at the bookstall and thrust them into their pockets.

We travelled all together in a large fourth-class compartment,
which had seats only round the sides, so that several of us had
to stand. Our journey, considering its destination, was not
unpleasant, for our guards, now they were enjoying semi-privacy
with us, relaxed from their military sternness and smoked and
joked with us. As the train passed through Charlottenburg and
we caught fleeting glimpses of the brightly illuminated beer-
restaurants and cafes in the Kurfurstendamm one of our guards,
who had evidently enjoyed life, remarked : "I should like to
be guzzling over there to-night." And as we sped across the
famous Tiergarten — its broad avenues lit up with great arc-
lights, and lovers nestling in the shades of its trees — our head-
guard was confidential and told us of an amorous adventure he
had had there some years ago with an actress's daughter. " Sie
war bildhubsch ! " he emphasised, with a self-congratulatory
gesture. Whereupon the three truants, men of about thirty,
who were natives of Germany but had derived British citizenship
from their naturalized fathers, confessed that they had escaped
the previous night only to visit their lonely sweethearts who had
written them such passionate letters. They had climbed over
the barbed wire fence with little damage on the way out, but
on climbing back again early in the morning they were caught
by the little watchman with his dog. One of them laughingly
displayed as a damning piece of evidence the large menu of the
Schultheiss beer-restaurant, where he had caroused with his
beloved. At length we passed the brilliant lights of Friedrich
Strasse, which seemed to be as gay as ever, and presently we
alighted at the Alexander Platz station. Here our guards,
especially the leader, again resumed their stern deportment,
ordered us to line up in fours, and " Mar-r-sch ! " We attracted
the curiosity of passers-by as we stumbled across the main

92 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

thoroughfare with our bags and bundles, but we were soon
hidden in the gloom of Dircksen Strasse and found ourselves at
one of the portals of that immense and massive jail — Stadtvogtei
Gefangnis. A night -warder admitted us, and our guards counted
us as we passed into the charge room. " Dreizehn Stuck ! " said
our head-guard, as though delivering so many head of cattle.

" How long do we stay here ? " we asked the warder.

He shrugged his shoulders. " Cannot say."

Our guards called out, ' Gute Nacht ! " and " Auf Wieder-
sehen ! " and departed.

For the third time within seven months I was tramping up
the stone steps of this self-same jail, and I almost felt like an
incorrigible criminal. The warder led us along a corridor and
began unlocking single cells. " Eine Gemeinschaftszelle, bitte I '
I whispered to him complaisantly. My suggestion was realized.
Three of my comrades and myself were put into a large electric-
lighted cell with four beds, whilst the rest of the party were all
locked up in small single cells. I looked around my new abode.
It was an exact replica of the cell I had occupied in the previous
September, with a long table and two benches, four little racks
with a mug, and wash-basin, and a water-tap. We were given
half an hour to get ready for bed, so we made a hasty supper of
some of the food we had brought with us, and by half-past nine —
when the light was switched off by the warder from without — the
four of us were in our beds, discussing the events of the day and
speculating upon those to come.

At half-past six the following morning our door was unlocked
and unbolted with a resounding click, and half an hour later
two Polish convicts in dirty blue linen suits brought in a pail of
steaming coffee, which they poured into the white mugs with
which we were each supplied. But the decoction was undrink-
able, and I did not swallow more than a couple of spoonfuls.
Our door was left open by the warder, and we soon received
visits from our fellow-prisoners, who bewailed their solitary
confinement and proposed to use our large cell as a common
room. The warder raised no objection to our doing this during
the day, but said that at six o'clock we must all be locked up
again in our respective cells.

The regime was very much the same as on my first visit.
A special warder came round to consult our wishes, and we

IN PRISON AGAIN 93

ordered a varied stock of articles, including a little spirit stove
and a bottle of methylated spirits to boil water, as well as writing-
paper and newspapers. As there were several Jews in our party,
and it was the Passover Week, the warder telephoned to the
Jewish Soup Kitchen to supply us with meals. And after we
had discharged these various preliminaries, we walked down
into the courtyard for our morning's exercise, and made the
acquaintance of the other guests.

The " Stadtvogtei" Jail is one of the most interesting prisons
in Germany, as it contains political suspects of all nations and
tongues and serves as a sort of clearing-house for civilian prisoners.
During my third sojourn within its walls I met Germans and
Austrians, Englishmen and Frenchmen, Russians and Poles,
Belgians and Serbians, a Boer, an American, a Rumanian, and
a company of Hindu soldiers in mufti. All with whom I was able
to come into contact had a different tale to tell, but they all had
one element in common : they were considered a danger to the
German State, and thus they fraternized with one another. One
of the Germans was a beer-bellied innkeeper who had kept his
Kneipe open after one in the morning, and was thrust into
prison without trial and without knowing his sentence ; but
after three weeks, during which he consumed endless cigars, he
was released. The other German was a saturnine Socialist, who
had been betrayed by his wife as an anti war propagandist, and
who candidly declared that she had played him this trick in
order that she might enjoy undisturbed the embraces of her
Danish lover. There were two Austrians, natives of Galicia,
who had volunteered for the Austrian army, but who were
regarded by the authorities as Russians because of their Russian
parentage, although they were strangers both to Russia and her
language. Soon after our arrival these Austro-Russians were
transferred to a Russian camp.

Another Russian, a young man of education, who aroused
our profound sympathy, was the son of the Russian Consul at
X. He had been in solitary confinement for six months in
another prison, where he had been subjected to the vilest treat-
ment. For many months he had been unable to send off any
letters. He had scarcely finished his story when a warder came
to tell him that he must pack up, as he was to be transported
to a camp many miles away.

94 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Our first two days were passed in tolerable fashion. Our
cells were left open until six o'clock, and we could talk to one
another and go down into the courtyard whenever we wished,
though we all gave a wide berth to S., who, we feared, might be
acting as a spy against us. We made our own coffee in the
morning and evening, and we received two good meals a day
from the Jewish Soup Kitchen, together with a liberal supply of
unleavened bread. We made the German convict who cleaned
our cell every morning (his technical title was Kalfaktor)
our devoted and grateful servant by presenting him with the
chunks of brown bread which we did not need. He had already
fought for the Fatherland on the Eastern front and had been
through all the rigours of the first winter campaign. He was
sent back home wounded, and when he recovered he was found
unfit for further service and began begging, with the result that
he was sent to prison.

" But I would much rather be here than at the front," he
said, as he mopped the floor. " There, in the trenches, you get
the water up to your neck. Here it does not reach even above
my feet. And, besides, here I'm sure I'll at least survive diesen
verdammten Krieg ! ' '

Our large cell became a sort of club-room during the day,
and card-playing was the most popular pastime. Orthodox
games such as whist and solo were eschewed, as we were in
prison, preference being given to the more exciting and hazardous
games, poker, faro, and the like. We were joined by some
Belgians, a Frenchman, and a Russian, who lived in a large cell
in the same corridor, and who were glad of the distraction pro-
vided by our company. One of the Belgians was a poet, who
paced the corridor with solemn mien and excogitated verses in
the style of Baudelaire upon his confinement, which he recited
to us while beating the air in time with the rhythm. Another
was a vivacious musician, who had been invited from Belgium
to join the orchestra of the Berlin opera, and whose only crime
was that he had been out of doors one evening after eight o'clock.

Two other men, with highly strung nerves, were suspected
of espionage. One of them had been arrested at home in the
bosom of his family by detectives, who made a thorough search
of his dwelling for incriminating evidence, and even tore down
the wall-paper, though in vain. I learned the names of two men

IN PRISON AGAIN 95

who were acting as spies in the Ruhleben Camp : one of them
had previously been known in Karlsruhe and Heidelberg as a
common Groschen-Spitzel (" penny " police-spy) ; the other was
of bastard birth. Upon my return to Ruhleben I immediately
warned my fellow-prisoners of these two dangerous characters,
though one of them had long been suspected and shunned.

One of the most curious men I met was a Boer giant, who
was seven feet and a half tall, and whose feet always hung out
over his bed. He had been the chief of President Kruger's body-
guard, and had been taken prisoner in the South African War
and interned for eighteen months in Ceylon. He still retained
the military permit entitling him to leave the Camp every
evening to make purchases in the town. There he made the
acquaintance of a shopkeeper's daughter, whom he married,
and who died after giving birth to a child. During the last
twelve years he had passed through various fortunes and tribula-
tions, which were recorded and pictured in the interesting
album, full of pictorial postcards and official declarations, which
he showed me. Latterly he had toured through Austria and
Germany as an Indian giant waiter at country beer-restaurants,
where he served mugs of beer and sold signed photographs of
himself. This imposing son of Anak had the heart — and almost
the mind — of a child, and he asked me to read for him the letters
he received from his German sweetheart in Berlin.

We were all merrily occupied on the second afternoon after
our arrival when the warder suddenly entered and announced
that a strict order had just come from the Kommandantur .
We were to leave the large cell and were all to be placed in single
cells, and we were to have only an hour's exercise in the morn-
ing and another hour in the afternoon. Our family party was
quickly broken up ; we divided our joint possessions ; and
were assigned to small cells of thirteen cubic metres, in the same
corridor. My cell was exactly like that in which I had spent
a few hours on the day of general internment. Now, we thought,
as we were placed in solitary confinement, our punishment is
beginning, and we wondered how long it would continue ; but
our warders could give us no enlightenment. Despite our separa-
tion we could still communicate with one another, not only by
knocking at the intervening wall, but also by speaking. We
threw our voice upward through the air-hole above the door,

96 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

and the sound rebounded from the wall through the air-hole of
the next cell. I retained the little spirit stove, and in the even-
ing made some cocoa for two of my neighbours. When it was
ready I pushed out the little metal flag, whereupon the warder,
upon his next round, opened my cell and likewise those of my
friends, whom I was thus able to serve with part of their supper.
The rest of the evening I spent in reading Henri Lichtenberger's
Evolution of Modem Germany, and when I retired I had to re-
move everything from the table on to a stool, fasten up the table
against the wall to which it was hinged, and thus make room
for the bed which I unchained from the opposite wall, to which
it was secured. The bed had a spring mattress and I slept
soundly.

I was awakened in the morning by a steady tramp in the
courtyard below. I climbed up to the window and looked down
upon two dozen decrepit old men, in shabby blue linen suits,
walking in single file and dragging their feet wearily behind them.
There were two or three grey-bearded sinners who could not
even keep pace with them and " ploughed their lonely furrow."
When the warder opened my cell I commented upon the absence
of young men from the yard, and he replied with a knowing look :
" Kein W under. Die sind alle an der Front!" Presently we
were conducted downstairs for a warm douche, and I found
there a number of young Polish labourers who, I was told, were
going to be sent to work on some farms.

According to the new instructions the penitents from Ruhleben
were to be strictly secluded from all the other prisoners, and we
also had our exercise apart from the rest. For two or three days
the rule was strictly enforced, but now and again the warders
permitted us to enjoy the forbidden company of our fellow-
prisoners not only by day but occasionally by night. Not all the
warders were so amiable, however ; one of them was an unscrupu-
lous martinet, who was feared even by his colleagues, and whose
voice, when he raged, re-echoed throughout the entire building.
Almost every day brought some new face into our narrow world.
One day it was a tall Englishman with upturned black moustache,
who had been brought all the way from Lodz, together with a
Russian aviation officer, from whom he was parted in Berlin.
He gave us a vivid account of the successive captures of Lodz
by the Germans, and of the condition in which he left it on

IN PRISON AGAIN 97

April 1st, 1915. (This prisoner, who was subsequently removed
to Ruhleben, became a prey to melancholia on account of his
inability to communicate with his wife at Lodz, and when he was
conveyed, in January, 1916, with a batch of returned prisoners
to England, he jumped from the steamer near Tilbury into the
Thames and was drowned.) Another morning we made the
acquaintance of an Englishman in a Norfolk suit, who had been
arrested as a spy three months before at Luxembourg, taken to
Trier, and tried there by court-martial and acquitted ; but
when he applied to be taken back to Luxembourg he was brought
to Berlin. Another visitor was a middle-aged American mer-
chant, who appeared to be quite indifferent about his new abode,
and who showed not the least anger when he was refused per-
mission to telephone to the American Embassy. He had been
arrested at his hotel in Unter den Linden for nothing more
serious, apparently, than buying English and French newspapers
at a kiosk.

One Sunday morning was rather exciting. As we tramped
about in the courtyard we saw a haggard-looking face between
the bars of a window on the third floor, and presently a little
crumpled note came flying to our feet. We opened it, and it
contained the message in German : "A Serbian begs for a
cigarette." We put a couple of cigarettes and a few matches
into a match-box, wrapped the box up in paper, and one of us
deftly threw it into the lonely Serbian's cell. The look of grati-
tude on his face is one of the things I shall never forget. Scarcely
was the incident over than we heard cries of " Aufseher ! '
(warder) from a corner window on the first floor, and the quick
rush of feet along the corridor. We raced up the stairs as fast
as we could and made for the cell from which the cries had come.
A middle-aged Belgian, who had only been brought from Namur
that morning, had attempted suicide with a razor in a water-
closet, and his son, who was with him, was distraught with grief.
The father was removed to the hospital on the top floor, and the
son was taken by the other Belgians into their cell and soothed.
After first aid had been rendered to the father, he was conveyed
in a taxi to a military prisoners' hospital.

Day after day passed without our receiving any tidings of
the length of our sentence, or any intimation whether we were
at present only under remand and our sentence was to begin

7

98 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

later. It was this uncertainty, and the ceaseless anxiety that it
bred, that formed the most painful factor in our punishment.
One morning, as I was sitting in my cell and reading, I heard
some strangers talking to my neighbour. I at once surmised
that there were official visitors. Presently my door was un-
locked, and I saw the Governor of the prison with a burly and
somewhat swarthy military officer of high rank. The latter,
with some papers in his hand, asked me various personal particu-
lars and the reason why I had smuggled out a letter. I replied
that that was the only way to prevent our letters being " cen-
sored " by our own barrack postmen before they were delivered
to the military censor, and that I objected to such a mischievous
and unnecessary practice. The officer made a note of my com-
plaint and withdrew. I afterwards learned that he was a Kriegs-
gerichtsrat (Court-Martial Councillor), whose duty it was to advise
on breaches of regulations committed by prisoners of war, and
that he had interviewed all my fellow offenders ; but none of us
received from him any inkling as to the term of our punishment.

The following day we welcomed a new visitor, a young
Rumanian. He was tall, slim, and sleuth-like, and was at first
very taciturn ; but afterwards he unbosomed himself as an
engineering student who was wrongly suspected of espionage.
He declared that he could secure his own acquittal within a few
days, by writing a brief request to the Kommandantur to release
him as it had no right to detain him ; and he offered to take
bets on the outcome of his petition. Nobody cared to risk his
money, as there was something mysterious about this Rumanian,
which kept us upon our guard. He impressed us by his amazing
skill at draughts and chess, but still more so by his skill at cards,
for there was hardly a game in which he did not win.

One evening we had a reunion in the Belgians' large cell.
I was absorbed in a book when, to my surprise, my door was
unlocked by the night warder, who beckoned me out, and his
invitation was reinforced by one of my fellow prisoners. So I
left my cell, the warder switched off the light, and I entered the
cell of my friends lower down the corridor. I could scarce
believe my eyes, for there was a convivial party of twelve prisoners
in the cell. The warders retired, and as it was nine o'clock and
they had switched off the light we stuck candles into the necks
of some empty bottles.

IN PRISON AGAIN 99

Perched on one of the upper beds, I gazed down upon the
strange scene and could hardly believe that I was in prison.
I was vividly reminded of the prison scene in Meyerbeer's opera,
Die Fledermaus. Four of the men, including the inscrutable
Rumanian, were gambling at cards, and several were looking on.
At the other end of the long table was a spirit stove, upon which
one of the Belgians was frying Kartoffel Puffer, pancakes made
of potato meal with oil, whilst a compatriot was rubbing potatoes
on a grater to make the meal. The highly strung Frenchman
delivered a speech on the situation in a mock-heroic vein, with
his hand on his heart, and then danced a pas seul with the nimble-
ness of a ballet-dancer. Beside me sat the Belgian poet, who
was eager to know all about Ruhleben ; and after his curiosity
was somewhat gratified, he made way for the musician, who
told me the story of the outrages committed by the Germans at
Aerschot. According to his account the trouble arose through
a German officer attempting to violate the fourteen-year-old
daughter of the Mayor in the latter's house : the girl's elder
brother hastened to her cry and shot the officer dead, whereupon
wholesale retribution was exacted from the inhabitants.

Presently we were all eating hot potato-pancakes, which we
washed down with steaming coffee, when the cell was opened by
a fatherly-looking warder, who gravely shook his head and said
that we must break up the party. But he soon melted and
began discussing with me the treatment of criminal dipsomaniacs
and indulged in various reminiscences of his official life. He left
us with a warning that we really must be ready to leave at
eleven, but when he returned at that hour with a colleague we
were given a further respite until midnight. One of the warders
confided to me that several warders of the prison who had gone
to the front had already been killed, and he was thankful that
his age saved him from a similar death. But he was strangely
confident that Germany would win.

At the stroke of twelve we parted with mutual handshakes,
and I retired drowsy to my cell. The following afternoon, when
we were drinking coffee and eating cake in the big cell, the
Rumanian suddenly rushed in with the news that he was free,
and he asked us whether he could discharge any messages for
us. We exchanged significant glances with one another and
declined the offer with thanks. We were afraid that we might

100 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

fall into a trap, and in any case were not sure that any message
would be fulfilled. So the mysterious young Rumanian departed,
sixty marks the richer as a result of his gambling exploits, and
we drew a breath of relief.

We had all along been under the impression that our imprison-
ment would only last fourteen days, so that when we woke on
the fourteenth morning we looked forward hopefully to our
transference to the Camp. But our hopes were dashed to the
ground when the warder told us that we were all to be removed
to cells on the topmost floor, as the management of this section
of the prison was to be put by midday under military control.
Before long the order was carried out. We dragged all our
belongings up a few flights of stairs to the top floor ; we were
locked into fresh cells ; and we were left ruminating upon the
length of our punishment. I felt that our real sentence was only
now just beginning, and feared that we might have to continue
our stay another three or six months.

When my cell was again opened about half-past one I saw
a non-commissioned officer, who announced that we had two
hours for exercise below. In the yard I found a large number
of new arrivals, Russians, Poles, and Englishmen, most of whom
had been brought from other prisons. Two of them were mere
schoolboys who had been arrested that very morning, as it was
their seventeenth birthday. The most curious character in the
new batch was a tall man of about forty, who wore a silk hat and
carried a silver-knobbed walking-stick. At first I thought he
was a representative of the American Embassy, but in English
with a strong Austrian accent he said : "It's all right. I'm one
of you." He told me that he had first been in this prison in
September, 1914 ; that, thanks to influential advocacy he was
given twenty-four hours to leave the country, and that after
a visit to London, he was back again within seven days as a
correspondent for a London paper. He was soon arrested again,
lodged in various prisons, and was now in what he believed to
be his last place of detention until the end of the war. " For,"
said he, ''' no journalist is allowed to go to Ruhleben." He
showed me his cell, and I thought it strange that he should have
been assigned a cell with four beds for his sole occupancy.

When our exercise was over and we returned to our cells we
were told that all who had come from Ruhleben a fortnight ago

IN PRISON AGAIN 101

should get ready to be taken back. We actually rejoiced that
we were going to Ruhleben again, for despite the interesting
time we had spent the last two weeks we looked forward with
horror to a prolonged stay in the " Stadtvogtei." We were escorted
by seven policemen armed with revolvers ; travelled again by
the Stadtbahn, which enabled us to get a good view of the streets
and people of Berlin ; and on arrival at Spandau chartered a
four-wheeler to convey our luggage to the Camp. At half-past
seven, exactly fourteen days to the minute after our departure
from Ruhleben, we exchanged friendly greetings there once
more with our fellow-prisoners.

CHAPTER XI

THE PRO-GERMANS

Varied origin of pro-Germans — Political friction — The Baron's warning —
Deutschgesinnt and deutschfreundlich — Segregation — Comedy and tragedy —
Recruiting for the Kaiser's army — Release of " P.G.'s " — Spying on correspond-
ence — German types — New citizens for Germany.

ONE of the most singular features of the community at
Ruhleben consisted of the large number of prisoners
who openly professed their sympathy for the German
cause. Paradoxical as such an attitude might appear, it was
susceptible of easy explanation. The pro-Germans were techni-
cally all British subjects, but their ties with England were either
so remote or so feeble that they did not predispose them in her
favour even though they were suffering hardships as Germany's
prisoners. For the most part, they were men who had been born
and bred in Germany, who had acquired naturalisation after the
minimum period of residence in England or one of her colonies,
and who had then returned to the Fatherland. They also in-
cluded the sons and even grandsons of such naturalised English-
men : men who had inherited their English nationality, but
who had never set foot on English soil and were utter strangers
to the English tongue. Another section of the same category
comprised men who had been born in England or in one of her
colonies, but who had lived for the greater part of their lives in
Germany, and therefore had very little in common with their
native country ; whilst other sections of the pro-German fra-
ternity comprised natives of Austria, German Switzerland, and
Russia, who had likewise spent the major part of their lives in
the land of the Kaiser. AU these various types of pro-German
prisoners numbered at first from seven to eight hundred.

Until the outbreak of the war these hybrid Englishmen had,
for the most part, felt, thought, and spoken exactly like their

1 02

THE PRO-GERMANS 103

German neighbours. Their material interests lay in Germany ;
they were married to German wives ; and their children were
educated in German schools and were undistinguishable from
German children in manners, dress, appearance, and sentiments.
The outbreak of war found them ardent champions of the Father-
land ; they took part in patriotic demonstrations and contributed
to patriotic funds. But when the order of internment was issued
they were arrested exactly like all the Stock-Engldnder (" out-
and-out " Englishmen), much to their indignation and to the
surprise of their neighbours. They protested that it was absurd
to intern them, as they could never dream of thinking — let alone
doing — evil to the Fatherland. But the police bluntly reminded
them that they had sheltered themselves all along under their
British nationality in order to escape from military service ;
and pointed out that if they were really concerned for the wel-
fare of Germany they should draw the sword in her defence.

At first the presence of these German-speaking Englishmen in
our midst only aroused our curiosity, and occasionally even our
sympathy, but when, in the course of inevitable discussion upon
the causes of the war and its prospects, they unblushingly
espoused the side of our captors they aroused our reproach and
our resentment. They were distributed through all the barracks
in the Camp, and were represented in hundreds of horse-boxes,
whilst there was hardly a hay-loft without them and their voluble
advocacy of German rights. The result was friction and dissen-
sion ; and there was also a justified suspicion that any anti-
German remarks that we uttered were reported to the authorities
by the " P.G.'s," as the pro-Germans soon came to be called.

One day, early in the spring of 1915, we were lined up in
front of our barracks, and the Acting Commandant, with his
inseparable cigar, strode from one barrack to the other and
delivered the following speech : "I hear that two parties have
been formed in this Camp, Englishmen and Germans, and that
the Englishmen are constantly annoying and provoking the
Germans. I am determined to suppress this state of enmity.
If any interned is molested on account of his Germanism he
should come to me at once for protection and his persecutor will
be punished most severely." As the Baron von Taube stalked
away self-satisfied, our head-guard snorted approval of this
preposterous pronouncement. " I should just like to get hold

104 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

of some of these Stock-Engldnder," he said, clenching his fist ;
" I would teach them a lesson."

To be deprived of liberty of movement by our internment
was bad enough ; but to be deprived of liberty of speech behind
the barbed wire fence was adding insult to injury. The Baron's
proclamation did not conduce to an improvement of the situa-
tion, so far as the " P.G.'s " were concerned, as henceforth a
general boycott was instituted against them as the most effective
means of preventing quarrels. The result was disappointing to
the Baron, who had to report to the Kommandantur that his
efforts to establish peaceable relations had failed. Thereupon
a census of pro-Germans was officially held, in order that further
measures might be devised.

We were all lined up again in front of our barracks, and the
Baron called upon those who were deutschgesinnt, that is, who
felt like Germans, to step on one side, so that their names might
be taken. Various groups ranging from twenty to a hundred
stepped out of the ranks in front of each barrack, amid the stony
silence of the rest of their fellow-prisoners ; and as soon as the
lists were drawn up speculation became rife as to the practical
outcome of this census. Our conjectures were somewhat confused
by the fact that in addition to those who were deutschgesinnt,
those who were only deutschfreundlich, or philo-German, were also
called upon to declare themselves. The captains requested an
official definition of these terms for the guidance of their barracks,
whereupon the military authorities, after consultation with the
Prussian War Office in Berlin, supplied written definitions which
were read out to us at night, just before bedtime. We were told
that deutschgesinnt meant one who was so thoroughly saturated
with German thought and feeling, and who was so profoundly in
sympathy with the cause of Germany, that he would not hesitate
even at " the final sacrifice " on behalf of his conviction ; whereas
deutschfreimdlich was one who, whatever his views on the politi-
cal situation, still retained a feeling of admiration for German
literature and Kultur. We were told, moreover, that no practi-
cal consequence, either beneficial or otherwise, would result from
one's declaration ; but we immediately dismissed this gratuitous
monition as a bait, as we could not conceive why the authorities
were taking all this trouble if no practical development were
contemplated. The general rumour was that the avowed pro-

THE PRO-GERMANS 105

Germans would be favoured with frequent furloughs and even
with early release, and this rumour was maintained despite all
official denials. We thought it very strange, however, that we
were not permitted to have a copy of the official definitions :
they were simply read through to us in German and English
by the captains, who were forbidden to make any copy of the
military order and had to return it immediately to the authorities.

The holding of such a political inquisition in a prisoners-of-
war camp seemed to us monstrous, but we soon realised that
there was method in the German madness. A few days after
these preliminary investigations, on a Sunday morning in the
middle of April, 1915, the alarm bell was struck, we lined up in
front of our barracks, and we were informed that all the pro-
Germans were to be segregated from the rest of the Camp. They
were to be lodged in Stable 1, in the wooden Barracks XIV and
XV, and in the " Tea-House," which was henceforth called the
' Tee-Haus." All the prisoners in these four barracks who did
not subscribe to the tenets of pro-Germanism had to pack up
their belongings and seek a new home in the horse-boxes and hay-
lofts vacated by the " P.G.'s," but they were not allowed to take
their beds with them. On the other hand, the " P.G.'s " who
moved into the wooden barracks, which had only a small supply
of beds, were allowed to take theirs with them, so that their
successors had to sleep on the floor for days and even weeks
until they could buy beds of their own.

The process of removal was a remarkable spectacle, which
aroused merriment among those who were not affected but
bitterness among those who had " to break up their happy
home," as they quaintly put it. For over an hour there was
a. straggling procession in two opposite directions of prisoners
carrying all their goods and chattels — bedding, blankets, books,
biscuit-tins, crockery, cutlery, clogs, etc. — desperately seeking
a. new resting-place in congenial quarters ; whilst in their track
there was a litter of stray book-leaves, newspaper fragments, odd
socks, biscuit-crumbs, and fragments of dinner-bowls broken
in transit. The order of removal was received that morning by
telephone from the War Office, and it was in full course of execu-
tion before the arrival of the Commandant, Count von Schwerin,
whose look of amazement when he beheld the scene of removal
was a study. It was rumoured (and on very good authority too,

106 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

as I ascertained) that the segregation of the pro-Germans was
determined upon by the War Office as the only means of staving
off the contemplated removal of the Stock-Engldnder to the
military camp at Doberitz, a few miles away.

The transmigration was attended by some peculiar scenes,
some comic, some verging on the tragic. Many a man who had
previously avowed himself a pro-German recanted from fear that
he would be lodged in less comfortable quarters, and proudly
protested : " Ich bin ein Engldnder und bleibe ein Engldnder ! '
Many brothers parted company : some remained in the English
barracks, others joined the " P.G.'s " There were also divisions
between fathers and sons : some fathers, natives of England,
had a difficulty in persuading their German-born sons to remain
in the English barracks ; whilst, on the other hand, there were
German-born sons who, during their short stay at Ruhleben, had
already acquired such a liking for English ways and customs
that they refused to follow their fathers, whose business interests
made them " P.G.'s." The great bulk of the pro-Germans were
not natives of England or her colonies ; the few who were justi-
fied themselves to their friends on the grounds of their business,
which, they maintained, would inevitably surfer if they did not
declare that their sympathies were with Germany.

The exchange of residences was carried out without a hitch,
and when it was over the laugh was on the side of the Camj
that had remained loyal to the British flag. For we were rid of
the presence of tale-bearers, and the vision of favours and «
privileges in which the pro-Germans had indulged soon proved
to be a mere figment of the imagination. On the contrary, these
sympathizers with the German cause were called upon in due
course to put their convictions to the test. Whenever one of
them applied for leave, the responsible officer, Lieutenant .
Riidiger, would ask him : " What regiment would you like to
join ? " The prisoner would pretend not to understand, or to be
shocked at the suggestion that he should bear arms against the
nation to which he belonged. But the officer left him no ground
for misunderstanding. " Go and get examined by the Doctor,"
he would say, " and let me know what he says. We can then
better discuss the question of your leave."
| Constant pressure was thus brought to bear upon the inmates
of the pro-German barracks to make them enlist in the Kaiser's

THE PRO-GERMANS 107

army, and instead of receiving favours they found themselves
subjected to more rigorous treatment than their fellow-prisoners.
Those who had sons were plainly told they could secure their own
release by the enlistment of their sons. Some fathers preferred
to continue in internment indefinitely rather than sacrifice their
sons to what they regarded as certain death ; some sons resolved to
purchase their father's liberation at the cost of their own loyalty
and safety. Other prisoners gave way to the entreaties of their
German wives or their widowed mothers, who saw ruin staring
them in the face when the authorities began to throttle or wind
up British businesses in different parts of the country. The
process of coercion thus exercised in the interests of German
recruiting was unsparingly denounced in the Reichstag by
Socialist deputies, but without avail, as the military party did
not care whence it obtained fodder for the cannon, and even
regarded the Englanderlager as a legitimate hunting-ground.

In the course of time those " Perfect Gentlemen," as the
" P.G.'s " were euphemistically styled, who were over forty-
five years of age, who had lived in Germany for the greater
part of their lives, who had German wives and German busi-
nesses, and who had no sons that could be sacrificed, were per-
mitted to return to their homes and occupations if the local
police had no objection. Many a man who was promised his
discharge was doomed to remain in the Camp because the military
authorities of his town refused to allow any Englishmen to live
within their domain. This attitude was firmly maintained by
the Kommandantur of Frankfort-on-the-Main, so that pro-
German prisoners resident in that city had to obtain permission
to settle in some less holy place. And even after prisoners were
released into Germany they were subjected to ceaseless vigilance
on the part of the local military and police officials, who kept
in touch with the Camp authorities, so that if they were guilty,
consciously or unconsciously, of any misdemeanour, they could
be brought back again to the safe-keeping of Ruhleben.

A certain prisoner who had spent the greater part of his fifty
years in Germany, and about the validity of whose British
citizenship there was some doubt, succeeded after repeated
efforts in convincing Lieutenant Rudiger of his German loyalty
and was allowed to return to his domicile in the Rhineland. Two
months later, without warning or explanation, he was suddenly

108 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

arrested by two soldiers and brought back again to the Camp.
Perplexed as to the cause of his re-internment he sought an inter-
view with the Lieutenant, and the following conversation took
place :

Lieutenant : " Have you been corresponding with the Ameri-
can Embassy ? "

Prisoner : " Jawohl, Herr Leutnant ! "

Lieutenant : " What did you correspond about ? "

Prisoner : " I wanted to find out whether I could eventually
obtain compensation for the loss sustained through my long
internment."

Lieutenant : " Compensation from whom ? "

Piisoner : " From the British Government."

Lieutenant : " Aha ! So you still consider yourself a British
subject ! Very good. Then Ruhleben is after all the right place < ^
for you. Good day ! "

In the course of time the pro-German section was regarded
with a certain amount of good-humoured toleration, especially
as its members were known to be treated somewhat more strictly
than the majority, whilst the production of German plays also |
helped to foster friendly relations between the two sections.
In the " P.G." barracks one heard all kinds of German accents
and dialects — Rhenish and Bavarian, Silesian and Swiss, Hano-
verian and Viennese — but seldom an English word. The types,
physical and facial, were also German. Several of the older men
walked about in sabots, smoking their long-stemmed pipes with
fat bowls ; there was a tall, young, strapping Bavarian in his
native costume of short breeches, bare knees, and picturesque
green jacket ; there was a bare-headed and bare-legged Wander-
vogel, a youth of nineteen, who wore sandals the whole year
round ; and there was a middle-aged innkeeper with a " beer-*'
belly " and pointed grey beard, wearing a huge brown sombrero,
and wearily waddling about in his shirt-sleeves. A curious
member of the fraternity was a native of Heligoland, who had
retained his English nationality after the island's acquisition by
Germany. All those who had been on the list of the British
Relief Fund were in due course struck off by order of the British
Government.

For twelve months a secret but unremitting campaign of re-
cruiting was carried on among the " P.G.'s," with the result that

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§

THE PRO-GERMANS 109

about two or three hundred " volunteers " were secured. They
left singly, and ostensibly on furlough, but their friends knew
the meaning of their departure, and the news quickly spread.
But apparently the authorities were not satisfied with the result
of their campaign, for in May, 1916, they instituted a special
inquiry in the pro-German barracks to discover further volunteers
and to ascertain who was willing to become naturalized in
Germany after the war. The Acting Commandant, who acted
upon instructions from the Berlin War Office, uttered the warn-
ing that those who had relatives or monetary interests in England
would do wisely not to declare their willingness to become
naturalized : only those who had no link of any kind with the
enemy country should contemplate such a step. The bait did
not prove very fetching. Only about a hundred men altogether,
prisoners with German wives, German businesses, and German-
reared children, expressed a desire to become citizens after the
war — despite their eighteen months' internment as British
prisoners. They were all concentrated in the " Tee-Haus,"
from which those " P.G.'s " were evicted who had no liking for
the Kaiser as their sovereign. The latter, who became known
as " ex-P.G.'s," had a difficulty at first in rinding a new home
in the English barracks, but many of them had friends there
who smoothed their path. The battue for " volunteers " proved
a lamentable failure, whilst the aspirants for German citizenship
were promised an early release.

1

CHAPTER XII

SOCIAL AMENITIES AND CHARACTERS

Local interests — Societies and associations — " Supermen " and " Snobs " —
Monotony of restricted company — Box quarrels — A miniature cosmopolis —
A medley of languages — Diversity of types — The negroes' barrack — " Pea-
Nut " — Naturmenschen — Lion-tamer's " Exchange and Mart " — A correspondent
of Ambassadors — Little Jimmy — Russian soldier-boys — Familiar localities — A
quaint refrain.

RUHLEBEN CAMP, at first merely a heterogeneous
collection of prisoners, gradually developed into an
organized community, with most of the qualities and
attributes of a free community, supplemented by its own specific
features. We had our own habits and customs, our own fashions
and etiquette, our characters and celebrities, our rumours and
excitements. Captivity produced little change in our natures,
and after the first copious outpouring of mutual sympathy in
the early months our various individual characteristics soon
asserted themselves in the communal life we all helped to build ,
up. There were many who never shook off the first fit of depres-
sion that seized them upon their internment, and who even
steadily sank deeper into a state of incurable melancholia ; but
for the most part our Camp had the varied aspect of a busy little
provincial cosmopolis. Cut off though we were from the rest of I
the world we had a multitude of interests of our own arising
from our daily occupations and diversions, from our studies and
sports, from our societies and associations, from the antipathy
between barracks and captains, and from the innate antagonism
between prisoners and their military guardians ; we had our
rivalries and jealousies, our cliques and circles, our gossips and
scandals, our problems and politics ; though all these things,
real and vital as they were for the time and curiously reflected
in our communal press, the Camp magazine, paled into insignifi-

IIO

SOCIAL AMENITIES AND CHARACTERS 111

cance beside the passionate yearning for liberty that made us all
kin.

We dispensed with introductions during the first few months
and started a conversation with anybody we met, either in or
out of our barracks, upon the inevitable theme : " How were
you caught ? ' But the innate reserve of the Englishman soon
manifested itself even in captivity, and we felt in time that we
must not address a fellow-prisoner without an introduction, lest
we should be snubbed. Fortunately the groups that occupied
the horse-boxes facilitated the making of acquaintances, though
occasionally these groups had to be severed and re-formed owing
to incompatibility of temperament. But in addition to these
bases of intercourse, others were provided by the swarm of
societies, associations, and circles of various kinds that were
constantly created and that swept within their folds numbers of
men united by some common object or interest. The natives
of particular counties, the old boys of particular schools or
colleges, the members of particular professions, and the devotees
of common ideals, all discovered one another through the medium
of pencilled notices on the boiler-house, and founded their respec-
tive societies, with all the traditional paraphernalia of com-
mittees, officials, constitutions, and minutes, and with the subse-
quent phenomena of intrigues, opposition, and resignations. In
course of time the Camp was literally honeycombed with these
societies — intellectual, artistic, social, professional, and athletic —
and their prominent members became our celebrities of greater
of less magnitude. Thus did we develop a public life that was
quite distinct from the private life that we led in our horse-boxes
or hay-lofts — the private life that was lacking in all privacy, but
which we nevertheless contrived to endow with some semblance
of seclusion, even though it were merely confined to the four
corners of our bedstead. And in addition to these formal associa-
tions there were informal groups, cliques created by intellectual
sympathy or simply by social snobbery, which were as well
marked in their composition and characteristics as any properly
organized society and which even acquired distinctive names.
Thus the " Supermen " were a little body of enthusiastic intel-
lectuals, who felt it their mission to instruct and edify their
fellow-prisoners by organizing lectures and performing Shake-
speare, Ibsen, and Shaw on the local stage. The " Snobs '

112 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

founded the first club in a shed that they called the " Summer-
House," and prophetically announced, to the amused astonish-
ment of the Camp, that there would be an annual meeting of
members on every 6th of November. There was a middle-aged
gentleman of ascetic mind who wielded a strong influence over
a group of young University satellites ; and there was a band of
spruce young men, smartly groomed in their stables, who had the
unmistakable hall-mark of the " knut."

One of the evils of internment is that you are thrown into
close and constant contact with all sorts and conditions of men,
for however entertaining a man's company may be one has a
surfeit of it after a time if one can never avoid it. We met our
fellow-captives a hundred times a day, and pretended to be in
a hurry in order not to be asked for the nth time : " How
d'you do ? " or " Anything fresh ? " Or if we did not want to
appear rude, and wished to maintain friendly relations, we ex-
changed a curt nod and went on our respective ways. We all had
a small circle of intimate friends, with whom we discussed the
news in our letters, or exchanged confidences about the con-
tents of our parcels, or debated plans for the future ; a wider
circle of associates with whom we discussed Camp affairs ; and
a further circle of acquaintances with whom we argued about
the duration of the war. In course of time we knew all our
fellow-prisoners and their particular companions, though not
always by name, and whenever a new face appeared in the Camp
it was immediately detected and formed the subject of specula-
tion. Social distinctions were not altogether effaced, even
though noblemen's sons lived like commoners in a horse-box ;
and a certain prestige clung to those who were privileged to dine
in the " Casino " restaurant and pay big prices for little meals.

" Box-mates," or neighbours in a loft, often pooled their
parcels for a common mess, though from time to time these
happy family gatherings were broken up through the friction
engendered by cramped quarters. There was hardly a box
without an occasional row, which was inevitable when six men
were confined with their beds and baggage within an area ten
feet square, and when some of them would be simultaneously
engaged in such incongruous occupations as late breakfast,
shaving, violin practice, and language-study. Tempers were
often severely tested and Billingsgate could blush for shame at

• SOCIAL AMENITIES AND CHARACTERS 113

the blasphemous epithets that hurtled through the air. Yet
there were many pleasant scenes too, tea parties and birthday
parties, waited upon by fellow-prisoners, with a brave display
of potted tongue, tinned fruits and cream, English currant-cake,
biscuits and liqueur chocolates, and the fumes of German cigars
rising amid the eloquence of facetious toasts or the strains of
" It's a long, long way to Tipperary." We gradually became
reconciled, even the youngest of us, to the absence of women,
though on the rare occasions when a woman did appear in the
Camp she was the cynosure of all eyes and the target of cynical
criticism. Many a man consoled himself with the photograph
of his wife or sweetheart fixed on the wall above his bed, and
here and there one came across little art galleries of feminine
beauty, occasionally in a very natural state, which were beyond
the control of either military or moral censors.

Although our Camp was officially styled Engldnderlager it
required very little observation to see that it could more truth-
fully be described as a miniature cosmopolis, for its population
was made up of the natives of many climes, presented a variety
of types, and spoke a babel of languages. Englishmen pure
and simple, or Stock-Engldnder, as they were called by the
Germans, naturally predominated, but they included representa-
tives not only of the four divisions of the United Kingdom and
of most of their counties, but also of nearly every part of the
British Empire — Canada and South Africa, Australia and New
Zealand, India, Jamaica, and the Straits Settlements. These
colonials imparted an imperial breadth to our little community
and figured prominently in our Empire Day celebrations. Second
in point of numbers came the German group, comprising natives
of Germany, Austria, and German Switzerland, who had been
naturalised in England or her colonies, or who were the sons or
grandsons of naturalised or British-born subjects, and including
many who had neither seen England nor were able to speak a
word of its language. Thirdly came the French group, con-
sisting of Englishmen or naturalized Englishmen who had lived
for very many years in Belgium or Northern France. And next
came a motley group hailing from all corners of the globe — from
Holland and Spain, from Finland and Mexico, from China and
Arabia, from Poland and Ecuador, from Malta and the
Cameroons.

114 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

This heterogeneous composition of the Ruhleben community
naturally endowed it with a considerable element of interest
and even romance. You could hear the softest Irish brogue,
the broadest Yorkshire dialect, the most provoking Cockney
accent ; your ear was assailed in turn by the American twang,
the Oxford drawl, and the most unadulterated Scotch. Those with
a fine ear could easily distinguish from what part of Central
Europe the German speakers hailed : whether from the Rhine-
land or Bavaria, from Vienna or the Canton of Basle, from
Hamburg or Wurtemberg. Whilst as for the other languages
spoken, their name was legion. In the cool of the evening,
when the greater part of the Camp tramped to and fro along the
" Parade " — the stretch of ground extending from the foot of
the grand stands to the railing that bounds the racing-track —
you could fancy yourself in some busy international resort, for
you heard snatches of conversation not only in English, French,
and German, but also in Spanish and Italian, in Russian and
Polish, in Dutch and Danish, in Yiddish and Esperanto. Many
of those speaking these foreign tongues during their evening
constitutional — a monotonous perambulation of a hundred
yards, when the whole boredom of internment was most keenly
felt — were actually learning the languages by the conversational
method, if not discussing the latest rumours. But for the most
part these British prisoners of war who spoke languages alien
to the British Empire were simply using their own mother-
tongue, or at least the tongue in which they had conveyed their
thoughts and ideas for the greater part of their lifetime. The
polyglot character of the Ruhleben population was also reflected
in the local theatre, press, and lecture-hall, for we had plays not
only in English but also in French, German, and Spanish ; there
was a French journal, La Vie Frangaise, and an Italian periodical,
II Messagero, besides the English magazine ; and lectures were
given in French, German, and Spanish, as well as in English.

It was not only the conglomeration of languages but the
diversity of types that made Ruhleben a true cosmopolis, though
continuous release tended to shear it of something of its diversity.
There were spruce clerks and long-haired musicians, music-hall
artists and pictorial artists, burly Grimsby fishermen in top-
boots and dusky Maltese sailors with earrings, mercantile marine
captains with gold-braided coats, and university students with

THE BOER GIANT

THE NEGROES' BARRACK

\

v

•

SOCIAL AMENITIES AND CHARACTERS 115

college blazers ; there were professional footballers and golfers,
jockeys and trainers, chauffeurs and waiters, touts and adven-
turers. There was a little colony of coloured men of different
races and shades — Lascars and Jamaicans, West Africans and
Zanzibarees — some with princely mutilations on their cheeks,
others of a low physiognomical type, but all living happily to-
gether in their own barrack, where their love of violin-scraping
and banjo-strumming had to be restricted to certain hours of
the day in the interests of peace, and where the professional
boxers occasionally gave an unpremeditated display of their
prowess. Many of these negroes did a busy trade in the morning
as shoeblacks under such fancy names as " Sunny Smitty " or
' Bambulai, the great Polish King," providing their customers
with an arm-chair on a little platform, on which they could
recline during the operation ; others conducted " Real English "
or " Japanese " laundries ; some knitted hammocks, others sold
mineral waters on the sports ground, and one of them — a grizzled
man of fifty — made artistic paper-weights of different shapes out
of slabs of marble. On Sunday those who could, overdressed
themselves in smart lounge-suits, patent boots, and high collars
that shone resplendent against their dusky skin.

Even in this little colony the natives of the same region con-
gregated together, talked in their native dialect, and played the
primitive games with stones in little oval hollows which they had
played on their native African soil. Most of them, even though
illiterate, had a remarkable pride of race. I once overheard
a conversation in which a negro, who prided himself on his
English, reproached a fellow-negro for speaking his native
dialect, whereupon the latter retorted : " That was the language
of my father, and of my father's father, and if that was good
enough for them I guess I need not be ashamed of it ! " The
favourite member of the colony was a young native of the
Cameroons, who was believed to be a German subject. He was
a comical-looking fellow with a croaking voice, and with a limp
due to a missing great toe. He was known as " Pea Nut," from
the merchandise he was indulgently permitted by the authorities
to sell, and he was so contented with his lot that he had to be
removed from the Camp bodily on the day of his release in
December, 1915. Another member of the colony seemed to have
walked out of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " : he was a medium-sized

116 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

fellow of middle age who walked with a peculiar shuffle, and who
always wore a flat black felt hat and puffed away, with a strange
leer in his beady eyes, at a small clay pipe.

There were many other peculiar characters, who strutted or
shuffled through the Camp. There was the Boer giant, whom
I had first met in Stadtvogtei Jail, and whose view was always
envied when he stood on the outskirts of a football crowd. There
were a couple of Canadian ranchers who gave some astonishing
displays of lassoing ; a couple of long-legged brothers, Naiur-
menschen, who wore shaggy beards and sandals ; a man of un-
balanced mind who tramped about with a wet cloth on his bald
head, sucking sweets and singing snatches of song ; and a
gentleman who always dressed as immaculately as if he were
off to Regent Street — with well-creased trousers, fancy socks,
resplendent tie, and monocle. There was also a real lion-tamer,
who had toured with various circuses across Central Europe.
He was a big, broad-shouldered man, with a full beard and
leonine brown locks beneath a large sombrero, and he wore a
spotted red handkerchief round his neck, corduroy trousers sup-
ported by a massive belt, and tremendous topboots. He was
the founder and proprietor of a busy " Exchange and Mart " in
the loft of which he was sub-captain, where he exchanged bovril
cubes for back numbers of the Camp magazine, margarine for
shaving soap, and coffee for cast-off suits. There was a half-
demented Belgian, known as the " French Ambassador," who
wore a black bowler hat and tight black trousers : his hands were
red, swollen, and smitten with some disease, and he always
seemed to be carrying behind his back his pewter dinner bowl,
which he incessantly cleaned beneath one barrack tap after
another. There was also a man, evidently in the fifties, who
wore an Inverness secured by a chain across the breast, a sailor-
like hat with ribbons fluttering at the back, and white gaiters ;
he was reputed to correspond with nobody of less rank than an
Ambassador, and he amused his neighbours in his barrack by
his antics as a wandering minstrel and as a supposed tight-rope
dancer. Then there were an unsavoury individual, who boasted
of having cycled from London to Monte Carlo, and who lent his
mud-stained machine to his fellow-prisoners at a penny a ride ;
a spectacled language-teacher who gave legal advice, English
and German, on all personal problems created by the war ; an

SOCIAL AMENITIES AND CHARACTERS 117

uncouth humorist who always laughed at his own jokes with a
reiterated cachinnation ; and the versatile " Barney " who
financed the first and only sandwich vendor and directed most
of the boxing matches.

Then there were various popular characters known by some
distinctive sobriquet. " Lobster " was the smart smiling youth
who presided at the outfitting store. " Polly " and " Skinny
Lizzie " were two men who took a conspicuous part as women
in the dramatic performances. Little Jimmy was a quaint little
fellow with oldish ruddy face, a former stable-keeper from
Brussels, who hawked the Ruhleben Daily News, a cyclostyled
English summary of the morning's news. With his sheaf of
sheets he hurried to and fro on his short nimble legs — his trousers
tightened at the bottom with a clasp — calling out in a high-
pitched treble : " The most important paper in the Camp ! The
daily Daily News ! Special telegrams from our correspondents
in all parts of the world ! The daily Daily — ever so gaily ! "
No matter how sad or melancholy one might be, the sight and
sound of little Jimmy, who scurried about as though he were
in Fleet Street, compelled one to smile. And among this gallery
of Ruhleben characters must also be included the two little
Russian boys, who had been captured fully uniformed at Novo-
Georgievsk, where they had acted as brave messengers behind
the lines, and who, after various journeyings, found a friendly
welcome in our Camp, where they were petted and pampered by
their older fellow-prisoners.

The " ethos " of Ruhleben, if that be not too dignified a term,
also expressed itself in the names given to particular parts of
the Camp, such as the open space near the offices of the military
authorities, which was illumined at night by an electric arc-
lamp, and which was christened "Trafalgar Square," because
of the supposed resemblance of the standard to the Nelson
Column. Then there were " Bond Street," in which there were
concentrated the canteens ; and " Fleet Street," below the stairs
of the first grand stand, where the offices of the Camp magazine
and the Ruhleben Daily News were located. But probably the
most remarkable product of the Ruhleben atmosphere was the
quaint jingle :

" There was a cow climbed up a tree,
O, you blooming liar ! " —

118 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

which was sung to a distinctive melody whenever anybody
related an obviously far-fetched story. This refrain was of such
common currency in the Camp that it was quite usual to speak
of any tall story or any extravagant rumour as " a cow " ; and
it actually received dramatisation in our Cinderella pantomime,
when, as a comment upon the fantastic speech of one of the
characters, a faked cow climbed up a tree to the accompaniment
of the familiar strains blared forth by cornet and trombone.

*

s

CHAPTER XIII

SUMMER DEVELOPMENTS

Summer fashions — A I fresco meals — Local plagues and parasites — A strange
mouse-hole — Rat-hunts — Measles — New barracks — Boys ' escapades — Leaking
roofs — Wash-house and latrines — Camp improvements — " R.X.D." — " R.S.D."
— Clubs — Flower-beds — Sun-baths — Card-playing — Cinema show — The medal
agitation — A " grand count " — August Bank Holiday — Sports prize distribution.

AFTER the manifold hardships that we had endured in
winter we all breathed more freely under the genial rays
Lof the summer sun. We had, indeed, fondly hoped
that our internment would come to an end after the first six
months, but when April arrived our military wiseacres, who
studied English and German papers assiduously, and diligently
pieced together information from letters received from German
friends, came to the sad conclusion that there was no probability
of peace before the end of the autumn. So we resigned ourselves
to the inevitable and resolved to make the best of our plight,
in which we were favoured by the weather. We had to discard
our sweaters, mufflers, and top-boots, and don summer clothing,
of which some prisoners wore very little. There was a good dis-
play of white flannels, whilst many contented themselves merely
with a shirt, short linen breeches, and shoes, as though prepared
at any moment for a race. We naturally lived as much as possible
in the open air, eating, reading, studying, writing, playing,
strolling, in regular alternation. Most of us took our chairs,
and many of us tables too, out of the barracks to some shady
spot away from the smells of the dust-bin and swill-tub (which
were not provided with lids till months later), and an alfresco
meal was a delight after the squalid atmosphere of the horse-box
or hay-loft. We increased our comfort by buying deck-chairs
or folding chairs, to which we fitted portable desks in the form
of a board with a couple of handles secured to the arms by

119

120 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

hooks. We carried our chairs about with us to the cricket-field,
to watch a match ; to the third grand stand, to attend an open-
air lecture ; or to the parade in front of the first stand, to listen
to the weekly promenade concerts. And our hour for retiring
was advanced from nine o'clock, when it was still light, until ten,
though our guards already began a quarter before that hour to
bawl out : " Schlafen gehen ! " (Go to sleep !)

Summer had its drawbacks too, however, as we soon learned.
We were plagued by dust, flies, mosquitoes, spiders, lice, mice,
and rats. The dust got into our shoes and socks, it settled on
our clothes, and whenever there was a wind, the dust was blown
into our eyes and ears. The flies were innumerable, and they
flitted and buzzed in such swarms and with such audacity over
our table — settling themselves on the very piece of bread and
butter we held in our hand — that we tired of chasing them away.
The canteen sold fly-catchers consisting of long strips of paper
smeared with some poisonous grease, but although the three
or four that we hung up in each horse-box soon became crowded
there appeared to be no diminution of the pest. The mosquitoes
were more troublesome still, for whilst we could ward them off
at daytime we were a helpless prey to their attacks at night, and
many men woke in the morning with red swellings on their
hands and cheeks. The mosquitoes were bred in the stagnant
pond in the middle of the race-course and could have been
exterminated, but despite the representations made on our
behalf by the American Embassy nothing was done, owing to
the shortage of petroleum. The frogs that swarmed in the
pond were a minor nuisance, although, while their antics amused
us at daytime, their ceaseless croaking kept some of us awake
at night. The spiders never ceased to spin their webs in our
boxes, on the ceiling and walls, and spread many a grossamer
net over the contents of our topmost shelves.

Lice appeared only sporadically, fortunately enough, as
immediate measures were always taken for their extermination.
Their habitat was often reported to the military authorities by
the laundry manager, in consequence of a discovery made in the
course of washing some undergarment. If the owner of the
garment lived in a horse-box then he and all his box-companions
had to take all their bedding and clothing to the baths at the
Emigrants' Railway Station for the purpose of disinfection and

SUMMER DEVELOPMENTS 121

fumigation, whilst the box itself, after the removal of all its
contents, was subjected to a similar process. But if the owner
of the infected garment lived in a loft or wooden barrack the
cleansing and purifying operations were naturally on a more
extensive scale, and the smell caused by the fumigation kept us
all at a distance. At one time lice were so prevalent that our
captains were instructed to announce to us at bed-time that
everybody should change into a night-shirt, and that if one did
not have any, one should apply to the Relief Committee, and
that anybody afflicted with vermin should report to the doctor
the following morning. These announcements were naturally
greeted with an outburst of ribald comment and mutual accusa-
tion.

Mice, and to a less extent rats, began to annoy us from the
very beginning of our internment. They usually came out of
their holes in the floor or walls at night, when we were in bed,
and scurried along the shelves, and even across our beds, in
search of food, and although a vigorous banging of the wall would
frighten them away, they would soon resume their audacious
foray. We adopted various precautions to protect our bread,
cheese, and other food-stuffs from being nibbled, and set many
a trap in vain, for these Prussian rats were singularly resourceful.
Once, in the early summer, as I lay in bed, I perceived a peculiar
rumbling beneath my head. I thought it rather mysterious, and
my wonderment only increased the following night when I
heard the same rumbling and scurrying again. The next morn-
ing, as the strange noise continued, a sudden inspiration struck
me. I lifted up my pillow, bed-sheet, and bolster, and there, in
the mattress, was a little hole out of which darted three pinkish
baby-mice, which immediately vanished. I had the hole filled
with three naphthalin balls and then patched up, to ward off: a
return visit, but I slept with my pillow at the opposite end for
a week before venturing to rest my head again over the deserted
home of the three little mice. After trying various ineffectual
means of destruction in our barrack, we secured a cat, and in-
stalled it in a wooden box filled with shavings, which we placed
in the stable-passage. That cat got rid of more mice in a week
than we had been able to catch with all our traps for the last
six months. We often looked on while she played with her
victim, allowing it to run away a foot or two, then pouncing

122 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

upon it, turning it over with her paws, and finally carrying it
away to some secluded corner, where she began by crunching off
the head. Our cat was also a match for a rat, though she never
let the animal go once she had seized it, and there was always
a vicious struggle, which attracted a crowd of spectators, who
remained until they saw the cat bite through the rat's throat.
There was, besides, some organised rat-hunting by means of a
dog and a couple of ferrets, an enterprise that formed one of
Ruhleben's minor excitements. The hunt was directed by an
expert, a former stable-boy, and on one occasion it yielded a bag
of thirteen rats, which were strung up on a pole for the edification
of the Acting Commandant who passed by.

Another misfortune that overtook us was an outbreak of
measles, of the German type, which extended over several weeks
and claimed about a hundred victims. The cause was commonly
attributed to the excessive heat that prevailed for some weeks
in that first summer, but the squalid and insanitary conditions,
and, above all, the congestion in which we lived, were doubtless
mainly responsible for the epidemic. There was scarcely a
barrack that was spared from infection, though most of the sick
men were under thirty. Every now and again we saw a bed,
laden with all the belongings of its owner, being carried from the
Camp to the lazaret at the Emigrants' Railway Station opposite,
and accompanied by the flushed and watery-eyed prisoner.
The patients were kept in isolation for a minimum period of
three weeks, and all returned in due course, complaining more
of the monotony and inadequate treatment than of the dis-
comfort they had endured.

Fortunately the military authorities, in response to the pres-
sure of the American Embassy, bestirred themselves and provided
increased housing accommodation, which was ready in June,
1915. They built another four one-storied wooden barracks
behind the grand stands, numbered XVI, XVII, XVIII, and
XIX, of which the first three were each filled with about a
hundred and fifty prisoners, drawn mostly from the overcrowded
lofts of the stables, whilst XIX was used as a Schonungsbarracke,
or " Convalescent Barrack," for the accommodation of those
who needed regular medical attendance or rest, but whose health
was not serious enough to warrant their transference to the
lazaret. The authorities also built another four wooden bar-

SUMMER DEVELOPMENTS 128

racks on the extreme west of the Camp, beyond the brick wall
by which the latter was originally bounded, so that parts of the
wall had to be broken down in order to provide access to the
new barracks, which were numbered from XX to XXIII.
The tenants for these new premises were likewise drawn from
the congested lofts of the neighbouring stables, and thus the
entire loft of Stable VI, which had been condemned by the
American Ambassador as unfit for habitation, was cleared.
Other tenants consisted of inmates from horse-boxes, who were
selected by their respective guards for transference as a punish-
ment for their late rising in the morning.

Half of Barrack XXIII was boarded off for the housing of all
prisoners under seventeen years of age, who were almost all
sailors and fishing-boys, and it was henceforth known as " The
Nursery." The two adult prisoners who were appointed to look
after these juveniles had a pretty busy time, as the latter were
always up to some prank or other. On one occasion two of them
were found making a hole through the floor, with the object
apparently of digging a tunnel to a point outside the Camp.
The Commandant took a lenient view of the offence, but sen-
tenced the boys to twenty-four hours in the cells, to serve as
a warning to the others. This punishment failed, however, to
deter two other youngsters from making a more serious attempt at
escape. One night they succeeded in escaping. They slept in the
neighbouring field, and wandered the next morning into the streets
of Charlottenburg, where a policeman overheard their English
conversation and arrested them. A few hours later they were
brought back into the Camp, looking very crestfallen, and in
the solitude of the cells they ruminated for three days upon the
futility of heroic ambitions. But the most amusing feature of
their adventure was the pencilled note that one pinned to his
bed, and in which he " bequeathed " to a friend the weekly dole
of five marks that he received from the Relief Fund.

Although the new barracks relieved the congestion, their
inmates were by no means comfortably lodged, as there was
no water supply on the premises. For each of the two new
groups of barracks there was a special wash-house which was
provided with a few shower-sprays as well as sinks ; but the
inmates of the farthest barracks who used these wash-houses
had to journey about a hundred yards, there and back — an

124 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

excursion by no means pleasant in the rain in summer, and
positively cruel in the following winter. The only water that
the inhabitants of these barracks received on the premises was
that which dripped through the " waterproof " roof when it
was raining, and then a broad and deep pool often formed round
the barracks opposite the kitchen, rendering them impossible
ol access except by a bridge of planks. Even the roof of the
Schonungsbarracke leaked, compelling the invalid inmates on
rainy days to move their beds out of danger. Many months
later eaves and rain gutters were constructed, but the accumula-
tion of rain outside some of the wooden barracks, especially
XII, XIII, and XVII, was a regular phenomenon.

Another " improvement " introduced by the authorities was
the construction of new latrines at the extreme east and west
end of the Camp, the distance between being about half a mile.
The largest old latrine, about which the American Ambassador,
on his visit on March 3rd, 1915, exclaimed : " Es ist schauder-
haft ! " was converted into a wash-house, in which prisoners
could take a shower-bath and wash their underclothing. This
wash-house, like all the others, was supplied only with cold
water ; and as the floor was of concrete, bathers had to stand
beneath the sprays in their clogs, goloshes, or sandals. As for
the new latrines, which apparently were structurally superior,
the sewage system was at first so deficient that they had to be
closed for several weeks and threatened serious danger to the
health of the Camp ; whilst from the cesspool, situated between
the doctor's consulting-room and the gate through which we
were always passing, there was an overpowering stench that
generally assailed the prisoners on their return with their dinner
from the kitchen. Even when the latrines were at length put
in order the primitive method of flushing produced such a stench
that even the strongest man was repelled, and the opposite
windows of Stable VI had to be closed to prevent the ingress of
the pestilential odour. Unfortunately my horse-box was one
whose window had to be closed, and as we had no cord and
pulley arrangement the closing had always to be done by one
of us climbing on to the upper bed. This malodorous misfortune
was never realized by official visitors, for they seldom called
before eleven o'clock, an hour after the vile stench had been
dissipated.

THE PARADE IN SUMMER

FETCHING DINNER

SUMMER DEVELOPMENTS 125

The various reforms and improvements carried out by our
own efforts, and at the expense of the Camp Fund, were more
thorough. In the first place, the roads, which throughout the
winter were nothing but bogs and marshes, were gradually con-
verted into negotiable paths with the help of ashes and a steam-
roller, and by the labour of prisoners who received a regular
wage. The canteens in " Bond Street ' were improved and
extended, and a yellow-painted sign was affixed to each store,
so that our shopping centre looked something like the High
Street in an English village. The little boiler-house for the
supply of hot water was also greatly enlarged and improved,
with six boilers placed on a circular, red-brick foundation, and
fed by a common fire whose smoke escaped through a tall chimney.
The trades that had been carried on throughout the winter in the
grand stand hall, the carpenters', barbers', shoemakers', were
transferred to more suitable quarters. The principal carpenters
had a large and well-equipped shed behind one of the stables,
where they found constant employment in supplying the require-
ments of their fellow-prisoners. They made tables, shelves,
cupboards, notice-boards, portable desks, lids for dust-bins, and
even beds — for many prisoners, who despaired of receiving iron
bedsteads from the military authorities, scraped their money
together and had simple, narrow wooden beds made with a
" spring mattress " of strong interlaced cord. The shoemaker
was located in a store at " Bond Street," where, owing to the
high price of leather in Germany, the " Bond Street " price of
six shillings and sixpence had to be paid for soling and heeling
— a circumstance that induced most of us to have our boots
well studded with nails and protectors. The hairdressers were
provided with a really well-equipped shop in a corner of the grand
stand hall, which was completely partitioned off with a high
wooden wall, whilst smaller barbers' establishments were set up
in various stable passages. Our horse-boxes and hay-lofts all
received a coat of whitewash in turn, an operation that involved
the temporary removal of our belongings outside the barrack,
where we camped out for the day under a broiling sun that
melted our butter. The cost of the whitewashing was supposed
to be borne by the Camp Fund, but in most of the barracks
(including mine) the prisoners were made to contribute towards
the expense. The whitewashing was for us an unmistakable

126 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

augury that we were doomed to spend a second winter in Ruhle-
ben.

The other innovations introduced by ourselves to increase our
comfort were the establishment of the " R.X.D." and the
' R.S.D.," the founding of various clubs, the planting of flower-
beds in front of our barracks, and the opening of a cinema
palace. The " R.X.D." was the popular title of the Ruhleben
Express Delivery, which was an internal postal organization,
officially permitted, for the delivery of prisoners' messages to
one another, and was largely used by the Camp Societies to con-
vene their members to meetings. It was modelled upon the
ordinary postal service : there were small, attractively designed
letter-boxes, bearing the hours of collection, fixed in each bar-
rack and in various parts of the Camp ; there were stamped
envelopes and post-cards and adhesive stamps of various colours
and prices from one-third of a penny ; there were postmen with
green badges who brought you a letter an hour after it was
dispatched ; and the letter was actually marked with the time
at which it was posted. The " R.X.D." was a very useful in-
stitution even at Ruhleben, where one could never be certain
of finding a fellow-prisoner " at home," though it was at first
abused by many practical jokers who sent anonymous threats,
accusations, and reproaches to their neighbours. The service
flourished for nearly twelve months, until the military authorities
discovered that the managers were selling to outside collectors
at fancy prices sets of Ruhleben stamps that inside the Camp
cost only one mark, and that these stamps were actually quoted
and reproduced in German and Austrian catalogues. Thereupon
the authorities confiscated the remainder of the postal stock,
suppressed the organisation, and imprisoned its enterprising
managers for three weeks in the " bird-cage." A few weeks later
arose a successor in the form of the " Camp Messenger Service,"
but as this had none of the picturesque accessories of the
" R.X.D." it had only a languishing existence. The companion
organization of the " R.S.D.," the Ruhleben Supplies Delivery,
was the private concern of a few prisoners, who undertook to
collect and deliver canteen orders twice a day in all parts of the
Camp and charged a commission of five pfennige on the mark,
or 5 per cent upon all orders. The errand boys wore a red
arm-band, carried their wares in a sort of wooden truck with two

SUMMER DEVELOPMENTS 127

handles at each end, and gave each customer a detailed and
receipted bill. This undertaking died a natural death in the
second winter of our internment in consequence of the short-
age of commodities at the canteens and the rapid decline of
commission revenue.

A club may seem a rather incongruous institution in a prison
camp, but its establishment at Ruhleben at least shows how
faithfully we modelled our life upon that of a typical English
community. The first to be founded was officially styled " The
Summer-House Club," but immediately nicknamed " The
Snobs." It was made exclusive by an entrance subscription of
twenty marks, and the money was devoted to making cosy and
habitable a shed secured for the purpose from the military
authorities. The second club was " The Corner House," a long
shed situated behind Stable VII, which could not comfortably
hold more than forty people, and most of the members of which
were musicians or artists. The club contained a piano ; its two
opposite small walls were decorated with highly-coloured paint-
ings, the " Cafe de la Paix " and an Irish rural scene, by a mem-
ber, Mr. C. Winzer ; and the room was frequently used for
musical and dramatic rehearsals. Lower down on the same side
was the " Twenty-five Club," so called from the limited number
of its members, and next to it was a homely furnished hut
occupied jointly as a sitting-room by five prisoners. On the
opposite side was the " Phcenix Club," which had a pretty
exterior of green trellis-work ; whilst at the other end of the
same thoroughfare were the clubs of the Dramatic Society, of
the Marine Engineers, and of the members of Barrack III. All
these clubs were somewhat primitive structures, badly lighted
and ventilated. They were necessitated by the utter lack of a
recreation or reading room, and their privacy compensated
somewhat for the lack of comfort, though in the winter only
Spartan spirits could sit in them. There were also, in various
parts of the Camp, especially in the pro-German section, several
huts or summer-houses built by the prisoners, at their own
expense, for their own convenience during the day. None of
these various clubs and huts abutted more than six or seven
feet beyond the walls against which they were built, and most
of them were merely improvements of sheds that had already
existed : so that the plea of the American Ambassador, that the

128 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

building of a recreation-room was impeded or retarded by the
occupation of " necessary space " by these private clubs, was
manifestly untenable. Moreover, the entire number of prisoners
who were able to benefit by all these clubs scarcely exceeded 250,
that is, less than one-twentieth of the whole population in the
Camp.

The joys of summer were made a little real by the pretty
flower-beds that we planted around and opposite our barracks,
and by the biscuit -tins filled with pansies, violets, and bluebells
that were suspended along the side of the wooden staircase.
The cost of these floral decorations was borne by the inmates of
each barrack, whilst the gardening was done voluntarily by
experts and amateurs. These flower-beds provided cheerful
surroundings on a summer's afternoon for a siesta in a deck-
chair, though many preferred to take a sun-bath in their short
breeches upon the verge of the playing field ; but owing to the
offended modesty of the wife of the Acting Commandant, who
occasionally walked along the outer track, sun-bathing, after a
few weeks, was forbidden. A favourite shelter on the hot days
was provided by the grand stands, on which prisoners would sit,
lounge, sleep, watch the sports, read, study, and play cards or
chess. Card-playing was officially allowed from the beginning
of the summer, though playing for money was strictly forbidden.
This prohibition was frequently ignored, however, and whenever
the guards caught men playing for money they seized whatever
money was displayed and it was confiscated by the military
authorities. The third grand stand was reserved for educational
purposes — for open-air lectures, classes, and private study,
though the simultaneity of manifold activities proved a some-
what disturbing factor. On the other hand, one could seek
distraction in the little cinema palace built at one end of the
grand stand hall, where the same film was displayed four or five
times a day to audiences of about a hundred and fifty. The show
was first opened at the end of August, 1915, in the presence of the
Acting Commandant and his wife and various military officers,
when a film of Ruhleben Camp life, as seen in its brightest
aspects, was unfolded. The cinema was under the control of
our Entertainments Committee, and it offered a fresh programme
every week.

Apart from these various developments in our ordinary daily

SUMMER DEVELOPMENTS 129

life, the first summer was also diversified by three or four episodes
that made more than a transitory impression. The first was
commonly known as the " Medal Craze." A number of associa-
tions were formed, consisting of members hailing from the same
country or county, for the purpose of fostering social intercourse
and Ruhleben memories in the days of future freedom. But in
addition to these more or less ideal objects, the associations also
conceived a scheme of having a medal or badge designed to serve
as a token of commemoration of our captivity ; and the great
questions that agitated them all were — Shall there be only one
common medal for all the associations, or shall each association
have its own design, or shall the obverse be alike for all and the re-
verse be left for individual fancy ; shall the medal be only of one
metal, or of gold, silver, and bronze, according to the purse of the
prisoner ; and, above all, shall the medal be struck at once or
shall we wait until we get back to England ? All these questions
were debated with considerable vigour and vehemence, wit and
eloquence, at private and public meetings that extended over
several weeks. There were, first of all, the Ruhleben British
Association, the largest in numbers, which advocated a single
medal of one design and metal ; and then the London and Home
Counties, the Lancastrians, the Yorkshiremen, the Northern
Counties, the Welshmen, the Scotsmen, the Irishmen, the
Canadians, the South Africans, and the Australians, some of
whom favoured a common medal and others diversity of design
and metal. The largest meetings were those held on Sunday
morning, when the enthusiasm that prevailed among the crowded
assembly in the Grand Stand Hall seemed to herald our imminent
release, and where the most striking utterance was that of a young
Yorkshire graduate, who declared that as he had a gold chain
he must have a gold medal — a statement that evoked a veritable
tornado of laughter and that was ever afterwards quoted against
the speaker. One of the societies actually obtained coloured
designs for Ruhleben medals from a Midland firm, displayed
them, and invited orders — with money — by a certain date, after
which it would be " too late." But another society enquired of
the American Embassy whether it would be right that the weekly
relief money should be expended upon medals, and received a
discouraging reply emanating from the British Government. The
Camp magazine, moreover, poured ridicule upon the whole idea,

9

130 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

and a special meeting was also called to protest against the
craze ; whereupon the agitation died down.

Another episode was that known as the " grand count," which
was due to the uncertainty of our guardians as to the exact
number of prisoners they had at Ruhleben. We used to be
counted every day, and often twice a day, whilst formed up in
fours ; we were counted and re-counted by German " non-
coms." and privates, by our captains and vice-captains, until
we began to think that we had been created only to be counted.
But the more they counted us the more muddled in their figures
did our guardians become, until they determined upon one
grand count, upon which the whole of their military mathemati-
cal forces were concentrated. At two o'clock, one broiling after-
noon in June, we were all marched out on to the race-course,
with the space of a couple of yards between the inmates of one
barrack and those of the next, and after we had been baking for
half an hour we were all reformed, amid much confusion, into
alphabetical groups lined up in alphabetical order. Then the
staff of officers, " non-coms." and privates, divided into three or
four parties and armed with archives and registers, started a
roll-call of several groups simultaneously. The proceedings were
attended with no little amusement, which provided some con-
solation for the heat and fatigue. It was found that some men
had been registered twice, under their forenames as well as sur-
names ; that those whose names began with " C" were also
entered under " K," and " vice versa " ; that others were registered
as present who had died or been released ; and that others again
were not registered at all, especially if there were fellow-prisoners
bearing the same name. The net result of this sweltering count-
ing parade, which lasted four hours and a half (the prolific letter
" S " being the last to be dismissed), was that the authorities
found they had more of us than they had believed, whereupon
we hazarded the ingenious suggestion that the excess number
should be released so that the figures might tally. But as the
authorities still seemed doubtful of the accuracy of their census,
nothing was done.

Another striking event was the celebration of our first August
Bank Holiday, into which we tried to import as much of the
festival atmosphere as possible. The canteens were closed, and
everybody fared forth to the race-course, where the field was

SUMMER DEVELOPMENTS 131

covered with all sorts of little side-shows and booths, about
sixty in all, including many little " Monte Carlo " tables. The
traditional cocoanut shy was numerously represented, the
targets at some booths consisting of caricatures of the three
candidates who were at that time seeking election as " M.P."
for Ruhleben. A breath of " 'Appy 'Ampstead " was wafted
across the field, which was enlivened by the huge form of a clean-
shaven, middle-aged man tricked out in the dress of an over-
grown baby, with pink sash and socks and rouged cheeks ; and
by a little group of pierrots and " pierrettes," who sang and
danced before an applauding crowd. The prevalent thirst was
quenched not only by the mineral waters sold on the ground, but
also by the Berliner Weissbier, a bottle of which was given to
every man at the cost of the Camp Fund ; and the doings of the
day terminated with a promenade concert, at which the prizes
won at the sports competitions of three months before were
distributed by the Baroness von Taube, the wife of the Acting
Commandant. The final act was the presentation by Mr. Powell,
the Captain of the Camp, of a dainty silver cup, to the Baroness
with the following inscription : —

" TO FRAU BARONIN VON TAUBE

Souvenir of the Ruhleben Camp Sports,
May 24, 1915."

The Baroness accepted the cup amid the ringing cheers of the
thousands of prisoners, and the Baron, who returned thanks on
her behalf, expressed the hope that peace would soon be restored
and that we would all be able soon to return home hale and
hearty. And then, after more cheers, we dispersed and walked
up and down along the parade, watching the glorious golden
sunset over the ammunition factories of Spandau, whose trails
of upward curling smoke recalled us to a more solemn frame of
mind.

CHAPTER XIV

SPORTS AND PASTIMES

The necessity of sports — Rounders — Sports field — Football Association —
Barrack colours — Rugby — Important matches — Cricket games — Athletic sports
competitions — Tennis — Golf — " La pelote " — Boxing — Skittles.

ONE of the redeeming features of our life at Ruhleben
consisted of the well-organised character of the sports,
which included football and cricket, tennis and golf,
hockey and lacrosse, and " la pelote." The indulgence in such
sports might suggest to the unthinking that we had a pleasant
time in our internment, but little reflection should suffice to
realise that it was not a luxury but a necessity, if we were to
maintain our physical fitness and save ourselves from the ennui
and inertia that would otherwise have overtaken a considerable
number. Small thanks, however, were due to the military
authorities, for the concession that made sports on a large scale
possible was but tardily wrung from them, and their pursuit
involved an expenditure on the part of the British Government.
It was the sports that made the privations of captivity bearable
for many hundreds, and they accordingly deserve some detailed
consideration.

The sporting instinct in the Englishman is so strong that we
had not been in Ruhleben a week before a number of football
clubs sprang into existence under such familiar names as
" Tottenham Hotspurs," " Manchester Rangers," " Bolton Wan-
derers," and " Newcastle United." There was only one football
available, and that none too robust, but it did not prevent this
sudden growth of a host of rival teams, who arranged matches
for many weeks ahead. The ground upon which the game was
played was a large open space in the compound, and the goal-
posts were marked by stones and piled-up jackets. But the
enthusiasm v/as soon turned to disappointment when the military

172

SPORTS AND PASTIMES 183

authorities forbade the game on the ground that the stable-
windows might be smashed. Thereupon we had to content
ourselves with the less exciting game of rounders, which was
played with considerable energy and spirit during the first few
months. There was a picked team in every barrack, and the
matches took place in the wide space between Barracks II and
XI, which was blocked every morning by the crowd of interested
onlookers. The results were recorded on the notice-board of the
" Ruhleben Rounders League," which was posted on the neigh-
bouring boiler-house, and which was studied with growing
excitement as the competition drew to a close. The only other
outdoor game that was played occasionally in the first winter
was one in which two blindfolded boys struck at one another
with clouts, to the amusement of a host of spectators who stood
round. This peculiar pastime was generally played at night,
within the light thrown from a great arc lamp, and the faces of
the throng formed an interesting study.

The practice of organised sports dated from the day at the end
of March, 1915, when half of the inner race-course was placed at
our disposal for the purpose. The concession was granted by
General von Kessel, the Commander-in-Chief of the Mark of
Brandenburg, ostensibly in appreciation of the manner in which
we conducted the affairs of the Camp ; but a rent had to be paid
of 2400 marks (£120) a year, which came out of the funds supplied
by the British Government. The ground, which was a semi-oval,
had an area of about 200 yards by 150, and it was open from eight
till twelve in the morning, and from two till five in the afternoon,
with an extension in summer till seven o'clock. Upon this ground
all kinds of sports were practised, and great crowds frequently
lined up to watch an exciting football or cricket match, whilst
individual prisoners took walks round the outer verge of the
circumscribed area. A few sentries patrolled a little distance
away, and beguiled their weary hours by watching the sport.
The field was approached by means of a path across the outer
track, which was covered with planks to prevent any damage,
and which was also roped off on either side. A Football Associa-
tion Committee, consisting of representatives of the different
barracks, was soon called into being, for the purpose of measuring
out the field and arranging matches. Later on, other committees
were formed for cricket, tennis, golf, hockey, lacrosse, and

184 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

physical drill, and delegates from all these various committees
made up the Sports Control Committee.

Of all the games played on the race-course, football was un-
doubtedly the most popular, and there was seldom an interest-
ing match that did not attract a thousand onlookers. Much of
its popularity was undoubtedly due to the presence and activity
of the two international players, Mr. Steve Bloomer and Mr.
Fred Pentland, who had been teaching the German youth how
to kick the ball when they were overtaken by the war ; whilst
Mr. John Cameron, late manager of the Tottenham Hotspurs,
rendered valuable service as Secretary of the Association Com-
mittee. Most of the barracks ran two teams, and each barrack
had its own distinctive colours. The cost was borne by the
various barrack clubs, to which non-players as well as players
subscribed ; and there was not only an athletic outfitting store
under the management of a prisoner, but also a special office for
the administration of sporting affairs. Three separate fields
were marked out for football, and they were provided with goal-
nets, ropes, posts, and a whitewashed border-line. At first only
" soccer " was played, but afterwards Rugby too made its appear-
ance, and it was entertaining to watch the looks, and hear the
German comments of the pro-German prisoners, who had never
seen a Rugby match before in their lives. The Rugby teams
bore such names as " Barbarians," " Blackheath," " Wasps,"
" Harlequins," " United Services," and " Nomads." Association
was played strictly according to English rules, except that,
owing to limitations of time, there was only thirty-five minutes'
play each way ; and no transfers were allowed.

The first representative football match was played on Sunday
morning, March 28th, 1915, between " Ruhleben," under the
captaincy of Mr. Steve Bloomer, and " The Rest," under the
captaincy of Mr. Richards. The Acting Commandant, Baron
von Taube, kicked off, and, as the first number of the Camp
magazine repoited, " the form in this game was so good that
every one could see that with practice the play could reach a
pretty high standard." Two leagues were formed, which played
regularly until the first week in May. The championship of the
first league was won by Barrack I, commanded by Mr. Bloomer,
and that of the second league by Barrack X, which was captained
by Mr. A. G. Belmont. There was also a cup competition, which

A CRICKET MATCH

A BOX INC BOUT

SPORTS AND PASTIMES 185

attracted fourteen entries, the final being played by Barracks
IV and X, of which the former, under the captaincy of Mr. John
Brearley, secured the victory after a stubbornly contested game.

The second football season opened on the first Sunday in
October, 1915, with a vigorous match between Mr. Bloomer's
XI and Mr. Cameron's XI, and again Baron von Taube kicked
off. The atmosphere that prevailed that morning is crisply
described in the Camp magazine report :

" There was something in the faces of the men, and the air
and the whole place that was reminiscent of an English bank-
holiday, a fresh, snug Sunlight soap sort of feeling, with every-
body looking quite satisfied with the world and himself, but
careful not to let his feelings get the better of his decorum. The
weather was ideal, the ground good, and the crowd big : what
more could the football enthusiast ask ? "

This opening match resulted in five goals to two in favour of
Mr. Bloomer's team. Subsequently every barrack, on an average,
played a first and second league match every four days, whilst
those who did not play in their barrack teams had ample oppor-
tunity for unofficial games on a reserved pitch. The rivalry
between the barracks was exceedingly keen. The notice-board
of the Ruhleben Football Association, with the punctiliously
recorded results, was studied as closely as the tables of first league
matches in England. The Camp magazine published lengthy
articles on the subject with criticisms, interviews, and retro-
spects. And the shouts that went up from a thousand throats
whenever a goal was scored must have alarmed the garrison in
the neighbouring town of Spandau.

Cricket naturally had its numerous devotees, in two divisions,
in the summer, but it did not arouse as much enthusiasm as foot-
ball, and only when an exceptionally interesting match was
played did the onlookers, mostly seated in deck-chairs or on
folding-stools, extend right round the field. There was a canvas
tent in which the batting side waited, and beneath which the
official scorers sat at their portable desks, whilst the score was
shown by means of large white figures hung on a blackboard.
There were two cricket-pitches, which, owing to the hard nature
of the ground, were laid with matting, and regular practice was
also conducted within a net. From the technical point of view,
much of the success of the game was due to the Secretary of the

186

THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Cricket Association, Mr. Nurse, and to the head groundsman,
Mr. Joe Andrews (who was released in June, 1916). Of the host
of matches played at Ruhleben the most notable was that
between Barrack X, which won the championship of the league
in 1915, and the rest of the Camp. The contest, which was fought
to a finish, lasted four days, and was followed throughout by a
large, applauding crowd. The honours of the game were secured
by Mr. G. L. Crosland, who scored 129 runs in the first and 202
in the second innings, and who not only achieved the first double
century, but also the highest score at Ruhleben. The victory of
Barrack X was in no small measure due to the disposition of his
men by the captain, Mr. J. C. Masterman ; and in view of the
profound impression that it created at the time little excuse is
necessary for giving a full record of the game :

BARRACK X

First Innings.

Harrison, c. Johnson, b. Bloomer
Crosland, b. Bloomer
Roupell, c. Haines, b. Bloomer
Masterman, c. Bardsley, b. Bloomer
Steadman, c. Johnson, b. Haines
Belmont, b. Haines
Anderson, c. Ponsonby, b. Haines
Dodd, b. Bloomer
Pentland, b. Bloomer .
Gilbert, not out .
McGill, c. Brearley, b. Bloomer
Extras

13
129

79
40

7

4

4

7

16

12

2

19

Second Innings.

c. Haines, b. Brearley . 34

c. Ponsonby, b. Hartmann 202

c. and b. Bardsley . . 1

b. Bardsley ... 7
b. Hartmann . . .28

b. Hartmann ... 5

c. Bloomer, b. Hartmann . 12

b. Hartmann . . 15

c. and b. Hartmann . 19
not out .... 5
b. Bardsley ... 4

Extras . . 9

332

THE CAMP

Hartmann (XII), c. Masterman, b. Belmont 47

Gudgeon (III), c. McGill, b. Belmont . . 23

Haines (XIII), b. McGill . . . .13

McNaught (VI), c. Crosland, b. McGill . o

Ponsonby (III), b. Belmont . . .0

S. Bloomer (XI), c. Perry, b. Masterman . 66

Fachiri (VII), c. Masterman, b. Belmont . 2

Johnson (VIII), c. Roupell, b. Belmont . 51

Haynes (XI), b. Belmont . . . .6

Brearley (IV), c. Harrison, b. McGill . . 14

Bardsley (V) not out . . . . .2

Extras . . . .19

243

c. Harrison, b. Belmont

b. Belmont .

c. Dodd, b. Gilbert
c. and b. Gilbert .

b. Belmont .

c. Dodd, b. Steadman
run out

c. Crosland, b. Gilbert
b. Belmont .
b. Gilbert
not out

Extras

34i

7
10

o

39
48

52
19
43
25
o

4
19

266

In addition to the various inter-barrack contests a Lancashire
v. Yorkshire match, on the model of the national convention,
was played on August Bank Holiday both in 1915 and 1916.

SPORTS AND PASTIMES 137

Between the close of the first football season and the serious
commencement of cricket an exciting interlude was provided
by some athletic sports competitions, which extended over a
fortnight and concluded on Empire Day. There were several
running contests from 75 yards to a mile, a two-mile walking
race, a three-legged race, 120 yards hurdles, relay race, high
jamp, tug-of-war, golf competition, and drill class display. The
best running was done by a comparative new-comer, H. Edwards,
who had recently turned seventeen, and who at the Berlin Ofympic
trials held in June, 1914, ran second (arriving only a second
later) to Raw, who set up a world's record of 200 metres in
21 6.10 seconds. At the Ruhleben Sports, Edwards ran 75 yards
in 11 seconds, 220 yards in 24 seconds, and a quarter of a mile
in 56J seconds. The half-mile race was won by R. B. Brown in
2 minutes 16 seconds, and the mile by P. Wright in 4 minutes
59 seconds. The two-mile walking contest was won in 18 minutes
52 seconds by W. Gaunt, who, twelve months later, escaped.
The broad jump was won by McGill at 19 feet 6 inches, and
O. Groening and W. L. Reid tied for the high jump at 5 feet
4! inches. The tug-of-war provided some exciting struggles,
and was finally won by Barrack IV, which had an excellent team
of big heavy pullers, mostty seamen. The drilling display was
arranged by Mr. G. Dix, who throughout the summer in the
mornings conducted a large class of middle-aged men on the race-
course. All the arrangements for the competitions were modelled
on those observed at athletic festivals at home. The distances
were carefully measured ; the competitors wore distinctive
colours and a prominent number on breast and back ; the
starting was done by pistol shot ; and the winners and times
were announced through a megaphone by Mr. Tom Sullivan, the
champion sculler. The final events on Empire Day were all
witnessed by the military staff, who were provided with seats
within the track, whilst the thousands of prisoners crowded the
grand stands and swarmed along the railing that bordered the
track.

Eight tennis courts, separated by nets, were laid out on part
of the racing-track, for which special rent had to be paid. It
was impossible for the courts to be laid out in the north-south
direction, and hence the players had to face the sun and cope
with the deficiencies of light as well as with the slight slant of the

138 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

track. Despite these drawbacks there were about two hundred
players who paid the season's subscription of twenty marks to
the Tennis Association, besides providing themselves with the
regulation equipment. The largest number of members were
drawn from Barrack X, which shone in all sports, owing in great
measure to the big contingent of university men which it con-
tained. Play first started in the middle of July, 1915, and two
months later a tournament was arranged, comprising open
singles, open doubles, handicap singles, and handicap doubles,
for which a hundred players entered. The courts were so popular
that hardly one of them was ever vacant, and members had to
book their courts in advance on a notice-board, and leave off
promptly at the end of half an hour to make way for their suc-
cessors. There were many excellent players, chief of whom were
Mr. G. K. Logie, a well-known international player (and one of
the first half-dozen cracks in Germany), and Mr. J. O'Hara
Murray, who has distinguished himself for the last twelve years
at the leading tennis tournaments at the Riviera, in Paris, at
Stockholm, at Homburg, and Queen's. The main drawback
to the tennis sport was that men without means were excluded
from it, owing to the high subscription fee and the cost of racket,
ball, and shoes.

A similar drawback, though it was felt in a less degree, applied
to golf, which was played at the far end of the race-course.
Owing to the field being largely occupied by the football or cricket
players, the golfers had to keep within limited bounds, although
those who sallied forth at eight in the morning had the field to
themselves for an hour. Moreover, the ground was reserved for
the golfers for a couple of days, now and again, for championship
competitions. The Golf Club had about 200 members, many
of whom were professional players, whilst a large number re-
ceived their first lesson in the game in captivity and diligently
smacked their captive balls against a net. The moving spirit
of the club was the secretary, Mr. C. S. Butchart, who had laid
out many golf-links for German magnates in pre-war days, and
held the office of Inspector of our Civilian Police Force. In the
competition for the championship, arranged in September, 1915,
by Mr. A. Gummery (Royal Golf Club of Belgium), and extend-
ing over three days (12 holes being played each day), the tie
between Mr. R. Murray (Dresden and N. Berwick) and Mr. J. B.

SPORTS AND PASTIMES 139

Holt (Homburg) resulted in a victory for the former by 41 against
43 over 12 holes.

The other sports played on the field were hockey, lacrosse,
and baseball, whilst the prisoners from Belgium and North
France indulged in " la pelote," which is also a ball game. Inde-
pendent groups of prisoners exercised themselves with dumb-
bells or Indian clubs, or disported themselves upon a parallel
bar, which was supplied by the Sports Committee. There was
also a regular Boxing Club, which organised frequent exhibitions
in the summer in a specially made " ring " — a square wooden
platform with a rope attached to the four posts. Most of the
matches consisted of three bouts of one minute each, and some
effective punching was done by men who had figured in boxing
rings at home. These exhibitions always attracted a big crowd,
in which our German guards were often the most interested
spectators. Other pastimes that had their particular devotees
were quoits and croquet, whilst at all times of the day one came
across little parties playing at skittles (mostly made of broken
chair-legs) in various parts of the Camp.

CHAPTER XV

THE PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION

An exciting week — Official approval — The three candidates — Borough
proclamation — Committee-rooms — The Mayor — Nomination proceedings —
Speeches, meetings, favours — A tumultuous demonstration — Placards and
posters — Polling-day — German comment.

-

THE most remarkable episode in the summer of 1915,
and, indeed, in the entire annals of Ruhleben Camp, was
our Parliamentary By-Election. For fully eight days
the little community of British prisoners of war was seething
with the excitement of a political campaign, which had all the
external features but nothing of the serious import of a stubborn
contest at home. There were three official candidates, with
their agents, committees, and canvassers. There were com-
mittee-rooms and open-air meetings, posters and placards,
sandwich-men and hecklers, ribbons and rosettes of various
hues ; there were demonstrations and recriminations, scrim-
mages and disturbances, reckless promises of revolutionary
reforms and unabashed attempts at corruption ; and there was,
withal, a thoroughly traditional polling-day, when all the tur-
moil of the week rose and swelled to a perilous pitch, and the
peace — and monotony — of the Camp were not restored until
the result was duly declared by the returning officer amid the
cheers and counter-cheers of an assembly torn by rival en-
thusiasms. The story of that election week should appeal not
only to those who are interested in the psychology of captivity,
but also to statesmen and politicians, who may wonder how
so much excitement and bitterness could be aroused over issues
that were purely fictitious.

When I first suggested to some of my fellow-prisoners that
we should hold a mock parliamentary election they shook their
heads somewhat scornfully, and thought that the heat had

140

THE PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION 141

affected my brain. But when I reminded them of the success
that had attended our Mock Trial a few months before, they
admitted that the political arena might be as fertile in amuse-
ment as the law court. There were, however, a number of
peculiar difficulties. A parliamentary election could not be re-
hearsed or staged ; it would have to run its own natural, or un-
natural, course. Besides, what would the main questions be
upon which the contest would be fought, seeing that the most
vital of all questions — the war — must be rigorously excluded
from our discussions ? How would the candidates be nominated ?
And, above all, would the whole affair be allowed by the military
authorities ?

The last question was the first that required solution, for with-
out it all our efforts would be in vain. So I approached the head
of the English Censors' Department, Rittmeister von Mutzen-
becher, a genial old officer, who was fully conversant with
English life and whose friendly attitude towards the prisoners
at Ruhleben procured his subsequent " promotion " to another
centre of activity. He readily welcomed the idea, and his
recommendation elicited the consent of the Acting Commandant,
Baron von Taube. We were given the use of two boiler-houses,
which were not required in the summer, for committee-rooms,
and permission to hold open-air meetings, provided, of course,
that nothing of a political nature was discussed. All that re-
mained was to select the candidates, to assign them their respec-
tive " planks," and to obtain the necessary funds.

A small organising committee was formed to determine the
general lines upon which the campaign should be conducted,
as it was necessary that the total expenditure should not exceed
the grant of two hundred marks given by the Entertainments
Committee out of the profits on theatrical performances : a sum
which, for the first time in the history of British political life,
was found quite adequate to cover all the known and unknown
outlay of three rival candidates. As we had no political party
associations the candidates had to be selected and " coloured '
by a sort of mutual arrangement. The Conservative cause was
adopted by Mr. Alexander Boss, whose portly figure and monocle
seemed to have destined him for the part ; as one reared in the
native city of Bright and Cobden, I readily espoused the interests
of Liberalism ; whilst the cause of Woman Suffrage — introduced

142 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

to impart the spice of humour into our womanless constituency — -
was entrusted to a well-known variety artist, Mr. Reuben Cas-
tang, who whimsically pleaded that he had never made a speech
in his life. But before a borough could have Parliamentary
representation it must have a Mayor, and as it would have taken
too long first to organize a preliminary election for a Borough
Council, which would choose its Mayor, we took the law into
our own hands and appointed as Mayor and Returning Officer
Mr. Walter Butterworth, of Manchester, who, of all our com-
munity, had been the nearest to occupying a real Mayoral — or
rather Lord Mayoral — chair.

The first intimation that the general public had of the pro-
jected election was in the form of a big proclamation, issued
from the Town Hall of the Borough of Ruhleben, and posted
on the central boiler-house. This announcement, attractively
written in Gothic characters, crowned by the Ruhleben coat-of-
arms, and adorned at the base by an imposing red seal, was
addressed " to the Burgesses and Ratepayers of Ruhleben," and
stated that " whereas the Burgesses of the ancient and honour-
able Borough of Ruhleben, by virtue of their numbers and their
importance, both jointly and severally, are fully worthy and
entitled by right, law, and tradition to be represented in the
House of Commons, where their views, opinions, and interests
should receive meet and suitable expression, and whereas a
vacancy for the Parliamentary representation of the afore-
mentioned Borough has been and is hereby declared, in accordance
with the laws, usages, and customs of the Realm, be it hereby
known that three most trusty liege subjects have been duly and
properly named and nominated as candidates for the said repre-
sentation of the ancient and honourable Borough." The pro-
clamation gave the names, occupations, and addresses of the
three candidates, and called upon them to present themselves
at a meeting of the Burgesses in Ruhleben Town Hall, " where
they shall, with all due form and ceremony, unfold and expound
their respective programmes and policies," and subsequently to
" use, employ, and exercise all lawful means and methods within
their power (subject to the by-laws, provisions, and limitations
of the Parliamentary Act, Vic. lix, sec. iv, cap. xxxv, § xix, a, p,
and z, and subject likewise to the by-laws and regulations in
force in the Borough) to procure, secure, obtain, and retain the

ft

^

THE MEN'S CANDIDATE"

A POPULAR POSTER

ELECTION SCENES

<

THE PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION 143

support and suffrages of their fellow-Burgesses." This document
attracted large and curious crowds, who were particularly amused
by the coat-of-arms, which embodied the principal symbols and
tokens of Ruhleben life ; quarterings, dinner-bowl, black loaf,
sausage, and cleg ; supporters, a cat and a mouse ; motto,
" Dum spiro spero," and as the crown and summit of all, a typical
British check cap. Most curious of all was the German censor's
stamp, " Freigegeben," at the foot of this proclamation.

As there were only two " committee-rooms " for three candi-
dates, our agents decided on their possession by spinning a coin,
which resulted in a preliminary defeat for Woman Suffrage.
But the members of the " Phcenix Club " at once came to the
rescue of the unhappy candidate by placing their shed at his
disposal. Before the boiler-houses could be used they had to
be cleared of a lot of miscellaneous rubbish, and they then formed
the scene, not so much of political discussion, as of rival poster-
printing and caricature drawing. Each of these sheds was
adorned with a large inscription, " Liberal Committee Room "
and " Conservative Committee Room ' respectively ; though
two red flags fixed on the roof of the Liberal room had to be
pulled down, for fear they would be misunderstood by the troops
that travelled within view.

The formal adoption of the candidates took place at a crowded
meeting on a broiling July evening in the Grand Stand Hall.
Each of the candidates sat on the platform, surrounded by his
respective supporters. Mr. Boss, wearing an expansive blue tie,
gazed through his monocle with an autocratic air upon the
serried throng, his supporters having, like himself, adorned their
button-holes with blue ribbon. The Suffrage candidate, who is
normally shaven, had adopted a monstrous drooping black
moustache ; and he was encircled by a group of suffragettes
whose hats, frocks, and faces were calculated to spoil his chances
irredeemably. As it had been rumoured that the Suffragettes
were to be arrested on a charge of husband-desertion and might
be removed by the police from the platform, they were securely
tied to their chairs and to the iron columns supporting the roof.
As for myself, I donned a khaki suit for the occasion, with a
dazzling red tie, whilst my supporters and I wore red rosettes.

The Mayor of Ruhleben, clad in a black robe edged with red
muslin and proudly wearing a rusty chain of office, opened the

144 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

proceedings in a business-like speech, in which he called atten-
tion to the flourishing state of the arts and sciences, of industry
and commerce, within the confines of the Borough, and argued
that it was only right that the people who had suffered for their
country so many months, and displayed such deeds of heroism
every dinner-time, should at last be rewarded with a representa-
tive of their own in the House of Commons. The order in which
the candidates and their supporters addressed the meeting was
decided by lots. First came Mr. Tom Sullivan, who, in nominat-
ing Mr. Boss, paid a tribute to his excellence in all kinds of
sports, such as racing, boxing, skittles, and dominoes. Mr.
Boss based his claim to the suffrages of Ruhleben upon his
fictitious estate in Surrey, and upon his promise to introduce a
large number of reforms and improvements in the Borough,
such as an electric railway. I was nominated by Mr. W. Stern,
J. P., of Manchester, and outlined a programme comprising a
four hours' day, old age pensions at forty, the municipalization
of the beer supply, and a compensation of £1000 per annum
for all men interned at Ruhleben. Mr. Fred Pentland, the pro-
fessional footballer, in nominating Mr. Castang as the Woman
Suffrage candidate, described him as the All-England champion
at tiddley-winks, and was interrupted by frequent cries of
" Votes for women ! " Mr. Castang soon made it clear that he
was less concerned about the women's lack of votes than about
the Camp's lack of women, and he declared that if the men
wanted their mothers, wives, or sweethearts, they would give
him their solid support. Most of the speeches were interrupted,
not only by cheers and counter-cheers, but also by the singing
of that strange refrain : ' There was a cow climbed up a tree,
Oh, you blooming liar ! " which was intended as a reflection upon
the veracity of the statement it followed.

For the next six days the Camp was in a veritable turmoil.
There was a big display of favours and ribbons, blue, red, and
violet, and the men of each party tried to convert the others.
Across Bond Street fluttered a long white flag, with the motto :
" Vote for Boss and Truth, Justice, and Honour." The upper
part of the boiler-house, facing the military offices, was plastered
with the inscription : " Vote for Cohen and Compensation,"
accompanied by an approximate portrait ; whilst above the
middle grand stand was suspended a big sheet with a pretty

THE PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION 145

girl's face and an exhortation to vote for Castang. The party
meetings, one of which was attended by Rittmeister von Mutzen-
becher, were full of boisterous fun, but they were spoiled by the
unrestrained enthusiasm of juvenile partisans, who tried, with
mouth organs and tin-box drums, and with the choral rendering
of " Sit down, sit down ! " to the tune of a town-hall clock, to
spoil one another's meetings.

The biggest demonstration took place on the evening after the
nominations, when I addressed a crowd of about a thousand
from a dust-cart, which was carefully guarded all round by stal-
wart supporters against rushes from our opponents. On the
edge of the crowd stood Count von Schwerin and Baron von
Taube, the former highly amused and the latter with an anxious
look, whilst a rain of paper pellets was directed against my plat-
form, and as the opposition grew in sound and strength 1 con-
cluded my speech, and the cart was dragged away into safety by
my friends. Then Mr. Boss had an uncomfortable quarter of
an hour, as he and his supporters, after being pelted with paper
and dust, were rushed off the barrels upon which they had taken
up their position, and from which they intended addressing the
crowd. Mr. Castang was also brought by his partisans into the
seething throng and likewise given a ride, which almost made
him regret having consented to stand as a candidate, for hostile
hands pulled at each leg of his trousers in an opposite direction.
On the following evening I was carried in a barrack bread-box
by four sturdy supporters, preceded by my agent, Mr. Albert
Dannhorn, who, through a megaphone, called upon the public
to roll up in thousands, and by a dusky musician who played
on a trombone, " See the conquering hero comes ! " and by the
time our procession reached the first grand stand there was a
huge assembly awaiting us. Again our speeches were interrupted
by our Conservative opponents, and as soon as the latter began
their meeting there arrived upon the scene the partisans of the
Suffragette candidate, in the centre of whom was the leading
" lady " of the beauty chorus of Don't Laugh, the Camp revue,
most enticingly costumed, so that again pandemonium was let
loose.

The subsequent course of the campaign was not quite so
exciting. The military authorities expressed a desire that the
demonstrations and noise should cease, but this desire, inter-

IO

146 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

preted in captains' language, was that meetings should cease,
and so no further gathering was held until the following Tuesday
night, when the result of the poll was declared in the " Town
Hall." The interval was busily employed in designing and dis-
playing rival placards and posters, marked by a great deal of
humour and artistic ability, which formed an attractive and
amusing picture-gallery on the walls of the central boiler-house
and the opposite barrack. The polling took place on Tuesday,
August 3rd, from nine in the morning, in the " Town Hall."
The barrack postmen kindly acted as polling officers, and biscuit-
boxes with a slit in the lid served as ballot-boxes. Our police
were also present, in case of disorderliness ; but nothing more
serious happened than the attempt of one or two men to record
a second vote — an offence that was punished with instant and
ignominious expulsion. At two o'clock the polling booth was
closed, and the polling officers, with the biscuit-boxes in their
hands, headed by the Returning Officer and guarded by the
police, marched to the " Corner House," where the counting
took place in the presence of the candidates.

A large and enthusiastic crowd again filled the Town Hall in
the evening to hear the result of the poll. The Mayor, acting
as Returning Officer, announced the figures as follows : —

Reuben Castang . . . 1220

Israel Cohen .... 924
Alexander Boss .... 471

There were also seventy-four spoiled papers, so that in all
2689 electors, nearly two-thirds of the Borough, had voted.
There followed another series of humorous speeches, in which
emphasis was laid upon the delightful week that had been spent ;
and then, and for many months after, the elected member, who
was borne in on the wave of popular desire for lovely woman,
was teased and tormented daily because of the non-fulfilment of
his pledge.

As for the German press, which soon got wind of the Wahlkam-
pagne in the Engldnderlager, it betrayed its woeful lack of humour
by declaring that our by-election was organized as a protest
against the British Government for entering into the war !

CHAPTER XVI

INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES

Arts and Science Union — Lectures and studies — Attitude of authorities —
Origin of Camp School — Study of languages — School-premises and class-rooms —
Departments and faculties — Management and maintenance — " Circles " —
Libraries — Literary and Debating Society — Periodicals and publications.

WE had not been interned many weeks before a notice,
penned by an academic fellow-prisoner, appeared on
the boiler-house, inviting all university graduates
to meet one afternoon in the Grand Stand Hall. There gathered
together in the cold and draughty hall about forty men, whose
ages ranged from the twenties to the fifties, and who comprised
representatives of a number of British and German universities
and of the most varied faculties. The object for which we were
summoned was to discuss means for prosecuting private study,
proposals for arranging public lectures, and the securing of facili-
ties for engaging in creative work. An organization, entitled the
" Arts and Science Union," was established, with officers and
committee, for the purpose of carrying out our recommenda-
tions ; but we knew full well that the realization of such a task
in a concentration camp was no easy matter. The committee
applied to the military authorities for the use of a room, or for
a part of the hall that could be partitioned off, in order to enable
students who had been interrupted in their examination
preparations to continue their work, and likewise to enable
professional men to keep abreast of their particular branch of
activity. The response was chilling ; the military authorities
declared that, owing to lack of accommodation, they could not
grant the request. Hence the ideal of the Arts and Science
Union during the first winter was doomed to be merely a pious
aspiration.

But with the advent of spring a series of popular as well as of

147

148 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

scientific lectures, upon a variety of subjects, was arranged in
the Grand Stand Hall upon one or two nights a week, and an
audience of a few hundred always assembled and listened atten-
tively. The themes were drawn from philosophy, science, art,
literature, history, and the drama, and the lecturers were uni-
versity men. Upon the arrival of summer most of the public
lectures were delivered in the open air on the third grand stand,
and the members of the audience brought their chairs with
them. The subjects and dates were always announced in advance
by attractive posters, and occasionally a course of several lectures
was given on the same subject. We had discourses on Chinese
customs and wireless telegraphy, on soap manufacture and
Diesel engines, on Russia and Mexico, on the history of musical
development and the by-products of coal distillation. By far
the most popular course was that on the growth of England, by
Mr. J. C. Masterman, who attracted a large and mixed audience
every Friday morning throughout the summer. The problem
of finding accommodation for students was solved by utilizing
the synagogue and the betting cubicles beneath the first grand
stand. The synagogue was furnished with a number of small
folding tables and chairs, and was used for private study when
not required for religious services or classes. The " cubby-
holes '" were boarded up and provided with a glazed window
so as to secure privacy, and as there were only about eight
altogether, they were each assigned to groups of four, and after-
wards even six or eight prisoners, owing to the large number who
wished to avail themselves of the facility. The cost entailed
by these arrangements was borne by the Camp Fund, though
part of it was defrayed by the small charge made for admission
to some of the more important lectures. The military authorities
did not spend a single penny on these improvements, nor, indeed,
on any of the others to be presently described. On the contrary,
permission had to be begged repeatedly for the carrying out of
the most elementary requirements, and the authorities, to the
last, refused to allow any electric lighting or steam-heating to
be fitted up in the " cubby-holes." Yet whenever any dis-
tinguished or undistinguished neutral visited the Camp, the
authorities proudly pointed out the results of the prisoners'
efforts, and took all the credit to themselves. The main share
of the credit, so far as the initial impetus to intellectual activity

INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES 149

was concerned, was due to Mr. H. S. Hatfield, the virtual founder
of the Arts and Science Union.

A far more important and elaborate educational organization
was the Camp School, which had its origin in primitive be-
ginnings, and was the product of unremitting enthusiasm and
systematic labour. Soon after our internment many men, who
refused to lend an ear to the delusive rumours of an early release,
resolved to make the most of the abundant leisure that had been
thrust upon them, by devoting it, as well as they could, to intellec-
tual improvement. The most popular form which this assumed
was the study of modern languages, a task that was greatly
favoured by the polyglot character of our community. Those of
an independent turn of mind ground their way through an Otto's
Conversational Grammar alone and unaided ; but, for the most
part, the student of languages procured a teacher by means of
an autograph advertisement affixed with drawing-pins to the
wooden wall of the boiler-house. There was no lack of
tutors — Berlitz teachers long resident in Germany, and
professional teachers and university men on a holiday from
England. So ardent was the enthusiasm for language study
that men would learn declensions while waiting in the queue
outside the canteen or parcels office, or prepare their trans-
lations in the grand stand hall before the curtain went up on
the play.

The study of languages was conducted partly on the basis of
exchange, English for German, Spanish for French, and so forth ;
but most of the would-be students had nothing to give in ex-
change and had thus to pay a fee, which, in view of the prevailing
conditions, was naturally small. Many of those in the latter
category were unable, however, to pay anything, and thus their
needs had to be met by a voluntary organization. A small com-
mittee of public-spirited men set to work to find teachers who
were willing to give their services gratuitously, and they obtained
the co-operation of a large number of fellow-prisoners who were
qualified to give instruction not only in languages, but also in
science, philosophy, mathematics, and other subjects. Several
hundred pupils were enrolled and divided up into small classes,
and the instruction was given in various places — in the quiet
corner of a loft, in a box temporarily vacated by its inmates, in
the little synagogue, and, when the spring advanced, in the

THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

open air on the third grand stand. A fresh lease of life was
given to the school when half of the loft of Barrack VI had to
be cleared in the summer of 1915 and was allowed to be used
for educational purposes ; whilst six months later the other
half of the loft was also made over to the school. But to what
an extent this loft was suitable for such a purpose may be con-
cluded from the fact that it was condemned by the American
Ambassador at Berlin as unfit for habitation.

The Ruhleben Camp School, by the autumn of 1916, had
grown into an imposing institution. It had a total of 1400
students, who were divided into 300 classes and taught by 200
teachers. The ages of the students ranged from seventeen to
fifty-five, and father and son were often members of the same
class. The bulk of the educational work was concentrated in
the loft of Barrack VI, which had been partitioned off by the
teachers themselves into an office, lecture-room, twelve small
class-rooms, and a laboratory. The walls and ceiling had been
whitewashed so as to brighten the dingy rooms, and the windows
had been enlarged — at the expense of the students. Until the
class-rooms were furnished with desks (made in the handicrafts
department) the students had to bring their own chairs or stools
with them ; and those favoured with tall figures had to bow
their heads as they made their way to their room, thus gradually
developing the student's stoop. There were also four class-
rooms in the Y.M.C.A. Hall, which was opened on Christmas
Eve, 1915, and the synagogue was likewise used for two hours
every morning for teaching purposes.

The school consisted of twelve departments, each of which
had a representative on the School Committee. Four depart-
ments were devoted entirely to languages, four to various sciences,
and the remaining four to arts, music, commercial subjects, and
handicrafts. The first department embraced forty-three classes
in English, German, and Celtic, and some of the classes were
specially formed to enable prisoners whose mother-tongue was
not English to acquire a knowledge of the language. The French
department was the largest of all, comprising fifty-three classes
with thirty-nine teachers and nearly 300 students. The Italian
department had thirteen classes, whilst the fourth language
department embraced twenty classes in Spanish, fifteen in Rus-
sian, two in Dutch, one in Danish, and two in Portuguese. All

INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES 151

these classes were carefully graded, and the number of students
in each was limited to ensure proper individual attention.

The department for mathematics was very comprehensive,
whilst the arrangements for the teaching of the physical and
biological sciences were, in relation to the local circumstances,
truly remarkable. The laboratory, with its benches, tables,
shelves, and cupboards, was fitted up entirely by the teachers
and students. The class in practical botany, which was similar
to any first year's university course, was conducted by Mr. A. E.
Lechmere, D.sc. (London and Paris), who at the outbreak of
the war was conducting on behalf of the Bavarian Government
an investigation into certain plant diseases, and by Mr. M. S.
Pease, b.a. (Cantab.), and it was regularly attended by twenty-
one students. All the living material required was obtained
from the pond in the centre of the race-course, which contained
a very good variety of flora and fauna. Conifers and ferns were
also sent by Professor von Tubeuf, of Munich, and algae, mosses,
etc., by Professor Seward, of Cambridge.

In practical physics an elementary course was arranged by
Mr. F. H. Smith, b.a. (Cantab.), who was the first at Ruhleben
to illustrate his lectures with experiments carried out with
apparatus made in the Camp, such as a magic lantern, optical
bench, galvanometer, etc. Lectures in agricultural chemistry
were given by Mr. Dickson, whose students were mostly practical
gardeners ; on physical and inorganic chemistry by Mr. A.
Wechsler, B.sc. ; and on organic chemistry by Mr. R. Croad,
B.sc. A special class in chemistry for engineers was held by
Dr. J. W. Blagden.

The engineering department was likewise comprehensive,
including tuition in machine construction, applied mechanics,
electrical engineering, and ship construction, and comprising
many classes that covered the requirements of the London
University for the intermediate and final B.sc. (Eng.), and of
the Institutes of Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineers.
Owing to the large number of seafaring men in the Camp, there
was a separate department for nautical subjects, presided over
by Mr. S. A. Henriksen, and comprising classes in navigation,
signalling (Morse and semaphore), seamanship, naval architec-
ture, and ambulance work. In this department the men were
prepared for the certificates of second mate, first mate, master

152 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

and extra-master, whilst the marine engineers were also working
for certificates. The Board of Trade has granted the concession
that for every five weeks' attendance (of nine hours a week) at
the school, one week will be allowed towards sea-service up to
a maximum of three months, a similar allowance to that granted
for time spent at the Marine Technical School. Altogether over
one hundred seamen attended these special classes.

The arts department comprised classes in constitutional and
political history, philosophy, Latin, Greek, painting, and draw-
ing. The department for music was presided over by Mr. E. L.
Bainton, director of the Newcastle Conservatory of Music, and
had sixty students in various classes for vocal, instrumental, and
theoretical work. The commercial department comprised classes
in book-keeping, business correspondence, shorthand, type-
writing, commercial geography, and political economy, and
lectures on special industries (cotton-spinning, hosiery, soap-
manufacture, chemical trade, etc.). The twelfth department,
devoted to handicrafts, included sixteen classes in joinery,
wood-carving, book-binding, art metal work, pattern-making,
and fancy leather work.

The management of the school was in the hands of a com-
mittee, consisting of the twelve representatives of the various
departments, a representative from the Captains' Committee
(Mr. S. Asher), and the following officers : Mr. A. C. Ford,
chairman ; Mr. A. Ribton-Turner, treasurer ; and Mr. H. E.
Truelove, secretary. The total expenditure for nearly the whole
of the year 1915 was only 3000 marks (£150). Until the spring
of 1916 the requisite funds, both for appliances and for paying
some of the teachers, were obtained from the British Relief
Fund, through the American Embassy in Berlin ; but when
this source was closed against education, a public meeting was
held in the Camp, with the result that 1500 marks were raised
by voluntary subscription for fresh equipment, and it was
decided to fix a voluntary fee of one mark per month for each
student. The payment of these monthly fees began in the middle
of March, 1916.

The hours of instruction were from eight in the morning until
eight in the evening, with a midday interval from eleven till two,
during which the rooms were used for musical practice. About
a third of the school staff were professional teachers, though the

PHYSICAL LABORATORY

ENGLISH CLASS- ROOM

great majority of the others too had sufficient academic qualifi-
cations for their respective subjects, and many of them were
students in some class or other. A certain number of the
teachers were given a weekly honorarium, the maximum being
five marks. The students were drawn from all sections and
strata of the Camp, and many of them were working for the
examinations of the Royal Society of Arts and the London
Chamber of Commerce, as well as for the London Matricu-
lation, which were first held in the summer of 1916.

Independent of the school, but supplementary to its activity,
there were a large number of " Circles," which met to discuss
original papers or addresses delivered by members. The French,
German, Spanish, and Italian Circles practised conversation and
read together classics of the respective languages ; whilst the other
Circles were the historical, science, technical, engineering, nautical,
banking, and social problems Circles. One of the most popular
Circles was that devoted to English literature, in which a prefer-
ence was shown for contemporary writers ; and the Scotsmen
had their own particular conventicle for the cultivation of
Scottish literature and music. Most of these Circles met in one
of the class-rooms of the loft of Barrack VI, or in one of the
rooms of the Y.M.C.A. building. The research necessary for the
preparation of the papers was considerably helped by the well-
selected reference library, which was also housed in one of the
rooms of this building, and was under the control of Dr. M.
Ettinghausen. The 5000 volumes which it contained were all
sent from England, thanks to the efforts of the Board of Educa-
tion and many friends, and they included up-to-date works in
all branches of knowledge — history, philosophy, political science,
economics, law, literature, archaeology, philology, and natural
science. Books could be borrowed as well as read in the reference
library, but unfortunately the room could not accommodate
more than a dozen at a long table, and as there was only a thin
dividing wall, one was often disturbed by the playing of the
organ or the delivery of a homily on the adjoining platform.
There were also collections of technical works — on languages,
science, etc. — in the various class-rooms ; and, most popular of
all, there was a general lending library of about 6000 novels,
mostly in English, but also some in French and German, with an
efficient staff of voluntary librarians, under the command of

154 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Mr. J. H. Platford, who periodically issued supplementary cata-
logues and attended to the hundreds of borrowers that lined up
every morning, and exacted from them small fines if the books
were returned after the allotted time.

For the popular discussion of interesting questions we had
our literary and debating society, which was the first society to
be founded in the Camp. The first chairman was Professor
Sefton Delmer, of Berlin University, who was released in March,
1915 ; the second was Mr. Edward Falk, District Commissioner
in Nigeria, who escaped in July, 1915 ; and the third was myself.
Our weekly debates formed one of the most popular features
of Camp life, and they were generally attended by audiences
ranging from five to eight hundred. Originally our subjects had
to be submitted to the censorship of the Captains' Committee,
who, feeling the heavy burden of responsibility, would not allow
us to discuss Socialism, Trade Unions, or the Nationalization of
Railways, for fear that we might offend our hosts and cause the
suppression of further debates. But despite this censorship,
from which we emancipated ourselves after some months, we
found a large variety of topics — drawn from the most varied
spheres of human interest — though it was not always easy to
find speakers to open on one side or the other. We not only
debated such traditional themes as the taxation of bachelors,
the abolition of capital punishment, and woman suffrage, but
also whether the progress of civilization produced a commensurate
increase of happiness, whether the East had more to learn from
the West than the West from the East, and whether man's
character was influenced more by environment than by heredity.
Our meetings were conducted in perfect accordance with all the
customs and traditions of public debates, and at the conclusion
of the arguments, in which speakers of all sorts, eloquent and
halting, witty and dull, took part, the chairman always put the
question to the vote, declaring a tie if the sides seemed evenly
balanced. Sometimes we had impromptu debates, and occa-
sionally we devoted the evening to a literary address or the
telling of anecdotes. We honoured Dickens and Christmas by
the reading of the " Christmas Carol " ; we pleased our sea-
faring friends by holding a nautical evening, with a programme
of song, anecdote, recitations, and instrumental music, all of
the sea ; we celebrated Empire Day with suitable addresses ;

INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES 155

and we held a speech competition for the encouragement of
budding orators.

The intellectual activity of the Camp also found an outlet in
the issue of various periodicals and literary publications. There
were murmurs of disapproval when, a month after our intern-
ment, it was first rumoured that a magazine was to be printed,
as it was feared that such a publication would be interpreted
as a sign of our contentment. The first periodical, The Ruhleben
Camp News, could hardly have encouraged such a view, as it
was a rather feeble and amateurish production, consisting of
a few typewritten sheets, and largely made up of official announce-
ments. It was so poor that a rival, The Oracle, was soon started ;
but both of them were doomed to die in infancy. The first
presentable magazine, In Ruhleben Camp, appeared on June 6,
1915, after camp life had developed sufficiently to provide regu-
lar material for a periodical. It was a publication of thirty-two
pages, printed in Berlin, and it contained reports on the football
season, sports, concert season, debating society, and dramatic
performances, besides Church notices, gossip, and official
bulletins, as well as a witty poem on " The Seven Ages of a
Kriegsgefangener," some well-drawn illustrations, and numerous
advertisements. In Ruhleben Camp first appeared fortnightly,
and then monthly, the last and tenth number of the series being
the " Xmas Number, 1915," which appeared a month late. The
price was at first twenty pfennige, but this had to be raised to
thirty. The letterpress, besides the usual reports on sports,
plays, concerts, and debates, generally included a storyette or
sketch of Ruhleben interest, an interview with a Camp celebrity,
some more or less humorous poems, gossip, official notices and
letters to the editor. One of our poets essayed an " Omar Khay-
yam at Ruhleben," in which he sang : —

" Wake ! For the Glories of the Rising Sun
Remind us of another Day begun.

There is the old routine to live again,
The weary round before the Day is done."

* * • ♦

" A wondrous, motley crowd are we, and queer,
Made more so, possibly, in the long year
Of tedious Trivialities and Talk,

Sans Wine, sans Cash, sans Women, and sans Beer ! "

* * * *

156 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

" Come, fill your Pipe ! What boots it to lament,
And fill with sighs the spacious Firmament ?

Anticipation aggravates the ill.
To-morrow comes not till to-day is spent !

" Alike for those who dwell within the Past,
And those who after unknown Morrows cast,

The Time is Now, — to pass it as we may,
Until Deliverance shall come at last ! "

This philosophical attitude towards captivity was the dominant
note in every issue of the magazine, which was, moreover, con-
siderably brightened by the lively drawings and caricatures of
several Camp artists, notably Messrs. H. B. Molyneaux, Robert
Walker, and H. M. Mist. In the spring of 1916, In Ruhleben
Camp was succeeded by a fresh series, The Ruhleben Camp Maga-
zine, which appeared monthly under the editorship of Mr. L. E.
Filmore ; and shortly afterwards a French magazine, La Vie
Francaise, started its career, on a somewhat humbler scale,
under the direction of Mr. H. A. Bell. There was also an Italian
periodical, II Messaggero, edited by Mr. M. Cutayar, but this
was typed in the Camp, and its circulation was confined almost
entirely to the teachers and students of Italian. All these
various periodicals passed through a twofold censorship before
publication, first that of the Education Committee, and secondly
that of the military authorities.

In addition to these magazines we also had occasional publica-
tions, such as the thirty-two paged souvenir of The Ruhleben By-
Election, in which that notable contest was faithfully and humor-
ously chronicled with the aid of most of the cartoons and
caricatures displayed on the occasion ; and the fifty-six paged
Prisoners' Pie, an illustrated literary miscellany, edited by
Messrs. A. R. Cusden and R. Herdman Pender, with contributions
— literary, artistic, and musical — from twenty-five fellow-
prisoners. The letterpress of Prisoners' Pie, for which our
Supermen were mainly responsible, was almost entirely made
up of essays, sketches and poems, that had not the remotest
allusion to Ruhleben, and some of the poems were the fragmentary
products of futuristic singers.

Finally, mention may here be made of the Ruhlebe?i Daily
News., a typed English summary of the German morning papers,

INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES 157

of which a few hundred copies were sold daily to those who could
not read the Berliner Tageblatt or Vossische Zeitung. An evening
edition was also published under the name of The Star. The
proprietor, editor, and publisher of these papers was Mr. L.
Spicer, who had his " printing works " in a tiny office beneath
the first grand stand, where he also printed programmes for
plays, concerts, and sports, and typed letters for his fellow-
prisoners.

< IIAI'I !■ Iv XVII

MUSIC, DRAMA AND ART

< i. atori ..i .1 1 1 1. . 1 1 hi |.n 1 1 1 1 1. .ih. and M hall Orchestral concorti

Phi Mimical Society Dramatl ietj production Shakenpi trean rw

..mi. n. ii, /,■,..■«. ind pantominu Irinh, Kronch, and German produot •

Stag< cofebritlea \rt < nhtbll loni

OUR Camp wai rathei fortunate In having •> largi con
tingonl «'i musician!, acton, and artists, im, .h. soon
,is ji i».< .urn . i. .1, ii 1. 1 1 w< 1 1. H i ( ..I ii< i(» itay, ii" v i""
\ni. * i hi wiih .hi ,i i iii. i'.i ceaiclou and evei changing programme
<»i « nil i tainmcnl and amusement, ii wai particularly dui to
i in effort! oi "in musicians and acton, who received no reward
foi iin ii '..n Imposed labours, and who war! naturally exposed
to candid criticism, thai w< were able lo maintain a cheerful
•,|ni 1 1 throughout tin long and weary month! of oui Internment
Ail thi performances took place In thi Grand Stand Hall, with
the < ■•'■ ption oi iii« pronv nade concert! given In summi i on

the In-. I grand Stand, .uul il was seldom indeed lh.it I he kill w.is

iii 1 1 fiii 1 1 I.. 1 1'. iii inn. i • .i i i.i i it j < hi I oi the n u< i' us ol a bufd i
in i iii< I i.i ii in peace times had been b refreshment room oi thi
i.m < inn m was constructed by oui cai penteis an ample stage,
wiih .i modeit proscenium and adequate wings, and not only
were there elcctiii footlights, but limelights red, white, and
blue w< i' (lashed from q box suspi tided from the ceiling above
tin heads <>i tii< audience All Mm seats, with I he exception oi
.i few, weri numbered, and they were bought in advance .it
prices ranging from I wenty to se vent 3 five pfennige (.-.Id i<> h<i |

.it tin adjoining box office, where plans oi the stalls, circles, and
pit ui 1. shown II" price Oi il"' unreserved seats Was only
ten pfennig rhere was seating accommodation i"i about five
hundred, all on the Mime level, with ii" exception <>i •< row "i
• 1 1.1 11-. mi .1 slightly raised platform at thareai oi the italli, which

MUSIC, DRAMA AND ART I 10

were reserved foi military officers oi the Camp and distinguished
visitors, Order was maintained by voluntary stewards, and
■ programmes a penny each " were regularly sold*

Oui first orchestra, .is already narrated, was organized within
.1 Few weeks aftei oui Internmenl by Mr, F Charles Adler, who
conducted .1 concert every Sunday evening throughout tlu* first
winter, and who performed what, in the circumstances, must be
admitted to have been a singularly successful achievement,
rhe orchestra varied from fortj to fifty members, and Included
.1 good proportion oi professional musicians During t ho first
Kw weeks we wi re favoured by the presence and playing oi Mr,
(.ni Fuchs, who was released about Christmas, E914; but we
soon discovered that there were many othei brilliant instru
mentalists In oui midst rhe pianists included Messrs Harry
Field, Lindsay, Norman Hewitt, and Leland Cossart ; the
violinists, Messrs Riley, Peebles-Conn, Godfrey Ludlow, and

I eslie Harris . the principal 'cellist was Ml a Dodd ; and our
vocalists included M< r 1 Bonhote, Proi F Keel, M
Cutayar, Howie, S 1 Austin, F w Hughesdon, and 11. 1
Hamlyn rhe first winter's programmes ranged ovei .1 con

rable field, and included selections from Handel and Wagnei .
Verdi and Puccini, Beethoven and Bellini, Sullivan and Frederic

II Cov . we heard Franck'a " [50th Psalm,' 1 the Stanford
iv Dcum," .1 selection oi English u>ik songs and ballads, and

Russian balalaika songs rowards the and oi the season .1 grand
piano was hired in addition to the ordinary piano, and there
wi • an appreciable improvement in the concerts, rhe Acting
Commandant and his wife, and very often the Count von Schwerin
too, were present at most oi these concerts, at the nui oi which
one oi them would express bis cordial thanks foi the evening •
entertainment.

Early in the summei i i t 1 o 1 •> the professional musicians formed
.1 Musical Society, ' to secure accommodation foi practice and
study foi the professional musicians and students interned, and
to organise concerts and othei musical entertainments in the
Camp.' 1 rhe officers elected were Mi Roland Bocquet, chaii
man; Mi E l Bainton (Director of the Newcastle Conservatory
oi Music), vice-chairman; and Mr, Edward Bonhote, secretarj
it was a long unit" before the society was able to secure special
accommodation foi musical practice, especially on the piano

160 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

ultimately, in combination with the artists, it had a wooden
shed built beyond the barracks at the extreme west of the Camp,
half of which was used as a musical salon and the other half as
an artists' studio. Henceforth the conductorship of concerts
presented an agreeable variety and it was exercised in turn by
Messrs. J. Peebles-Conn, Bainton, B. J. Dale, J. Pauer, C.
Weber, E. C. Macmillan, F. C. Adler, and L. Cossart. Mr.
Peebles-Conn introduced the popular promenade concerts on
Tuesday evenings, which have already enjoyed two summer
seasons. Mr. Bainton, who had already delivered an interesting
course of lectures on European schools of music, with pianoforte
illustrations, trained a madrigal choir, which proved a popular
attraction at subsequent concerts. Some of the works performed
were the compositions of prisoners, including a few written
among all the distractions of the Camp, notably those by Pro-
fessor Bryceson Treharne, Mr. Roland Bocquet, Mr. Bainton,
Mr. B. J. Dale, and Mr. Quentin Morvaren. In addition to the
Sunday concerts, the Monday evening lectures, which were
arranged by the Arts and Science Union, were occasionally
devoted to a musical theme, one of the most successful being
that given by Mr. H. G. Hunt on Grieg, with a rich array of vocal
and orchestral illustrations.

Much more activity was displayed in the dramatic world, not
only because the production of a play involved much more
labour and protracted preparation than a concert, but also
because each play was generally performed on three or four
successive nights so as to give the majority of the prisoners the
opportunity of seeing it. But unlike many of the musicians only
a few of the actors had had any professional experience, though
most of the amateurs, by the time they leave Ruhleben, will
begin to feel like real professionals. Most of the plays were
produced by the members of the " R.D.S." (we were fond of re-
ferring to Camp societies by their initials), the Ruhleben Dramatic
Society, in which there were two rival spirits — the spirit of
edification and the spirit of amusement. The former spirit was
embodied in Messrs. C. Duncan Jones, Leigh Henry, H. S. Hat-
field, and N. G. Kapp, who seemed to regard it as their mission
to uplift the Camp by serious plays ; the other spirit was mani-
fested by prisoners of less intellectual distinction, who urged
that our internment had already made us serious enough, and

THE ORCHESTRA

THE ART STUDIO

MUSIC, DRAMA AND ART 161

that we could not have too many cheerful plays to chase away
our cares. The result was that we had productions of both
categories and of various intermediate shades. We had comedy
and tragedy, farce and problem play, pantomime and mimo-
drama, comic opera and revue.

Among the long roll of dramatists whose plays were selected
for performance there was a notable predilection for living play-
wrights. Bernard Shaw was the first to be chosen, his Androcles
and the Lion having been performed — for the first time in English
on German soil — in the middle of March, 1915, and later, Captain
Brassbound's Conversion and John Bull's Other Island were also
successfully produced. John Galsworthy was represented by
Strife, which was much too sombre for the majority of the Camp,
and The Silver Box, which was a popular success. Jerome K.
Jerome contributed The Passing of the Third Floor Back, and
Conan Doyle, The Speckled Band. We also had, among a host
of others, such favourites as The Importance of Being Earnest,
The Private Secretary, What Happened to Jones, Mr. Preedy and
the Countess, Liberty Hall, and Mary Goes First. Ibsen's Master
Builder was also produced, not in Mr. William Archer's authorized
translation, but — such was the spirit of conceit — in a prisoner's
English translation from a German translation of the original.
We also had some evenings devoted to one-act plays, one of the
most successful being an evening occupied by three plays of
Stanley Houghton. Probably the most notable triumph on our
stage, from the artistic point of view, was achieved by L 'Enfant
Prodigue, the pantomimic drama by M. Carre, with the musical
accompaniment by A. Wormser. It was produced by Mr. H. G.
Hopkirk, who took the part of the son, whilst the seductive part
of a light-o'-love was cleverly rendered by Mr. Macmillan ; and
much of the success was due to Mr. Weber's masterly handling
of the orchestra. The first attempt at comic opera was made
with Trial by Jury, in which Mr. A. Welland appeared in the
difficult part of the Bride, Mr. H. F. Hamlyn as the Judge, Mr.
Anstey as the Counsel, and Mr. S. Austin as the Defendant. By
a curious coincidence a number of military officers, who were
transferred to Ruhleben for a few days on their way from one
prison camp to another, were the honoured guests at this first
production of one of Gilbert and Sullivan's operas.

There was a certain diffidence about the presentation of
11

162 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Shakespeare, as it was feared that he would not be entertaining
enough for the taste of the Camp. The first attempt was made
in June, 1915, with the Forest Scenes of As You Like It, upon
which a great deal of labour was lavished. The producer was
Mr. C. Duncan- Jones, who was popularly regarded as the guardian
of the poetic muse ; the scenic setting, grouping, apparel, pro-
cession, and dance were arranged by Mr. Leigh Henry, a disciple
of Mr. Gordon Craig ; and the musical setting was specially
composed and conducted by Professor Bryceson Treharne, of the
University of Adelaide. Although gratifying from an sesthetic
point of view, the performance did not appeal to the majority,
and hence Shakespeare was allowed to rest until the following
April, when his Tercentenary was celebrated upon an elaborate
scale. Three performances were given of Twelfth Night, which
was remarkably well acted, three of Othello (in which Mr. Hopkirk
gave an effective interpretation of the part of the Moor, and
Mr. G. L. Crosland made a touching Desdemona), whilst two
intervening nights were devoted respectively to a programme
of Elizabethan music (in which Professor F. Keel received re-
peated encores' for his facile rendering of folk-songs) and to a
literary symposium on Shakespeare's England. So great was
the enthusiasm roused by the announcement of this Tercentenary
Festival that, on the day when tickets were first sold, men began
lining up at the box-office at five in the morning, although the
sale did not begin until four hours later ; but as friends and box-
mates arranged to relieve one another every hour or two it was
not necessary for anybody to wait the whole time in the unusually
long queue.

Two popular productions that were wholly created in the
Camp, both words and music, were the revue, Don't Laugh, and
the Cinderella pantomime. The book and lyrics of the revue
were written by Mr. C. H. Brooks, additional lyrics were supplied
by Messrs. Hugh Miller and S. F. Austin, the music was com-
posed and arranged by Mr. E. C. Macmillan, and the producer
was Mr. John Roker, formerly ballet master at the " Metropol
Theater," Berlin. The revue was in eight episodes, and its dis-
tinguishing feature was a " beauty chorus," which was a tribute
to the wondrous power of costume, paint, and powder in trans-
forming a number of athletic youths into a bevy of alluring
beauties. The production was rendered topical by the inclusion

THE PANTOMIME liEAUTY CHORUS

THE THEATRE

MUSIC, DRAMA AND ART 167

hired from a theatrical costumier in Berlin (a member of the
Society receiving half a day's leave, under military escort, for
the purpose), but most of the costumes and properties were
ingeniously made in the Camp out of simple materials. Every
play was announced several days ahead by illustrated posters,
and at every performance an orchestra provided music in the
intervals. There was only one break in this cycle of entertain-
ment, namely, at the end of the summer in 1915, when the
musical society and the dramatic societies had a dispute with
the Entertainments Committee which controlled them and their
funds, and went " on strike " for several weeks until a com-
promise was arrived at and they each secured representation on
the Committee.

The activity of our pictorial artists could naturally not attain
such continuous publicity as that of the musicians and actors.
There were a number of portraitists who worked either in oils or
crayon, and who were always busily engaged in limning the features
of their fellow-prisoners or guards. Prominent among them were
Messrs. B. Schumacher (who had an easel in his horse-box),
C. M. Horsfall (a prolific producer of portraits in crayon), and
Gerald W. Tooby (a clever portrayer of types). Mr. H. B.
Molyneaux designed most of the covers of the Camp magazines
and other publications, to which he also contributed many
humorous illustrations ; whilst Messrs. Robert Walker and H. M.
Mist were particularly successful in depicting the humorous side of
Camp life. Mr. C. F. Winzer was a gifted disciple of the French
school ; and other notable artists were Messrs. J. O. Beeston (who
specialized in stage characters), H. Egremont, A. Healey Hislop,
W. O'S. Molony, and F. Silberman, each of whom had his own
particular genre. The first art exhibition was held in a par-
titioned portion of the Grand Stand Hall in July, 1915, and was
successfully organized by Mr. E. Hotopf : admission was secured
on purchase of a catalogue for twopence. There were about
a hundred and fifty exhibits, comprising portraits, landscapes,
Spandau sunsets, humorous Camp drawings, imaginative crea-
tions, a few sculptures, and cunningly designed marble paper-
weights. The exhibition was thrown open for three days after
it had passed the military censorship, and many of the objects
were bought by prisoners. The second exhibition was held the
following Christmas in the studio which the artists had built in

168 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

conjunction with the musicians, and proved particularly attrac-
tive on account of the humorous drawings ; and the third ex-
hibition, held in April, 1916, which was larger and more varied
than its predecessors, was likewise a success. There was a great
sale of works at the two latter exhibitions, the major part of the
purchase price being taken by the artist, whilst a percentage was
devoted to the collective expenditure of the studio. The total
amount realized at the third exhibition was 1000 marks (rather
less than £50), and many artists had to produce duplicates of
their works to gratify the demand.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE SECOND WINTER

Lighting difficulties — Exodus of barrack guards — " Re-election " of captains
— Candles and smoking in barracks — The first exchange of militarily unfit
prisoners — My medical examination — Photographed and disappointed — Depar-
ture of the released — Arrivals from Wittenberg — The Y.M.C.A. Hall — New Year
celebrations — Winter's rigours — Wanted a recreation room.

THE departure of summer was signalized for us on Sep-
tember ist by the hour for bed being put back again to
nine o'clock, and we settled down with resignation to
braving another winter. Our yearning for liberty had not
abated in the least, but we had become inured to the hardships
of captivity and looked forward to passing the second winter
with less discomfort than the first, as many of the deficiencies
under which we had suffered during the early months had,
thanks largely to our own efforts, been partially remedied.
The roads in the Camp had been made negotiable, and the large
hall had been fitted with steam-pipes in place of the primitive
stoves that had made us feel the cold all the more. The lighting
difficulty in our horse-boxes and hay-lofts, which had been a
source of ceaseless irritation, was solved by ourselves, by fixing
up a series of small pocket batteries, clasped together in a cigar-
box, over our beds. Some prisoners invested in " Le Clanche ,;
cells, which were procured through the agency of the Special
Orders Office, and were prepared by our amateur electricians ;
others ordered accumulators, which gave light for about a month,
and were then recharged in the cinema palace at twopence a
time. We were so grateful to be able to buy light for ourselves
that we forgot to reproach the authorities for withholding it
from us.

We entered upon our second winter with a dual feeling of
relief and hope. Our relief was due to the removal of our guards

169

170 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

from the barracks ; our hope was kindled by the arrangement
concluded between England and Germany that all civilian
prisoners found unfit for military service should be allowed
to return to their native country. The removal of our guards,
which took place in the middle of September, was decided upon
by the military authorities, according to their official announce-
ment, in recognition of our ability to manage the internal affairs
of the Camp ourselves. It was probably actuated, however,
by other less generous considerations too : by the wish to pre-
vent the guards from aiding and abetting us in the violation of
regulations ; by the fear that we might learn too much from them
of the distress in Germany ; and thirdly, by the " combing out '
among garrison soldiers to find reinforcements for -the Front.
Our guards left us with unconcealed regret, not on account of
their affection for us, but because they had to exchange a com-
fortable for a strenuous and uncertain lot. Several months
before a military order had actually been issued forbidding all
but strictly official intercourse between soldiers and prisoners,
such was the fear of the authorities that the soldiers were being
" corrupted." But in view of the German soldier's scanty
rations, it was only natural that our guards should try to supple-
ment them with our aid. I often saw them searching among the
cast-off remnants of mouldy bread which we threw into the box
placed at the entrance of every barrack, to find some pieces that
were still eatable. They were grateful for the extra black loaves
of Kriegsbrot that we passed on to them when we received our
white bread from England or Switzerland ; still more grateful
for an ounce of butter or margarine, or a few wheaten biscuits,
or some English cigarettes, or, indeed, anything with which they
could eke out their own restricted fare. " You have it much
better than we! " they would say enviously, as their eyes would
light upon a pound tin of English butter or a plate of potted
tongue.

On the day when their exodus took place and our civil
autonomy was granted, we were lined up in front of our bar-
racks, and the Acting Commandant, attended by the Captain
of the Camp, asked the inmates of each barrack in turn whether
they were satisfied with their respective captain. The only
response was " Yes," though not all responded ; but nobody
ventured to dissent, fearing that such protests would be in the

THE SECOND WINTER 171

minority and ineffectual. The object of the military authorities
was soon gained : they could now say that we had confirmed
in office the captains who had mostly been their own nominees.
Had they permitted us to carry out an election by ourselves the
result in many cases would have been very much different.
Baron von Taube also appeared before us with the heads of our
police, Mr. Butchart and Captains Alcide and Stewart, and
admonished us to render them every aid in the discharge of their
duties and obey their orders. The net result of the change was
that our guards went to swell the ranks of the sentries who only
patrolled outside the Camp, whence, if found fit, they were
subsequently promoted to the Front ; and their cosy rooms,
which were provided with stoves, were taken possession of by
the Captains. For a few nights the sentries who always walked
through our barracks at bedtime, to see that we were all in,
continued their visits, but soon these stopped too, and again we
heaved a sigh of relief. A few weeks later, however, a strong
rumour prevailed that the guards were to be restored, owing to
cases of smoking in barracks and naked candle-lights having
been discovered. We suspected that our late guards were
deliberately maligning us in order to prepare the way for their
return, but as we received sudden visits at any hour of the day
or night from various military officers, we realized that the
authorities were actually concerned about the contravention of
their vexatious rules. Official sanction was given to the use of
a special candlestick with glass shade, for which dozens of orders
were given, but as no candles thin enough could be procured, the
candlestick proved a white elephant, and we had to resort to
electric batteries. As for smoking in barracks, it was impossible
to do otherwise on the long winter evenings, as there was no hall
or recreation-room in which we could indulge in a smoke ; but
it was not until the spring of 1916 that the authorities relaxed
the rule so far as to permit smoking on the ground-floor of the
stables, whilst continuing the prohibition in the hay-lofts and
wooden barracks. I also learned that in the spring of 1915 an
order had come from the Berlin Kommandantur that smoking
at Ruhleben was to be suppressed altogether, and that it was
only upon the. threat of Count von Schwerin that he would
resign that the order was withdrawn. The Kommandantur
made a second attempt to introduce this order, with a like

172 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

response from our Commandant, whereupon the obnoxious
order was finally dropped.

The rumour that an agreement had been concluded between
the British and German Governments for an exchange of all
civilian prisoners who were unfit for military service first reached
us in February, 1915, and caused a flutter of excitement. But
as the weeks and months rolled on and we heard nothing more,
we consigned that rumour to the same place to which we had
relegated hundreds of other unverified rumours. At length, in
August we heard that the agreement was actually to be carried
out, and hundreds of us began to see a glimmer of hope of an
early release. The sceptics among us cynically remarked that
nobody who still had the use of his two feet and two hands had
any chance of being certified as militarily unfit ; but when the
5th of September arrived and we heard the names of the men
who were to leave for England on the following morning, we
plucked up courage and concluded that even some of those still
possessed of all their limbs might be found unsuitable for soldier-
ing. Early on the morning of the 6th the first happy batch,
consisting mostly of men who had been at German health-
resorts for a " cure," left the Camp and were taken to Berlin
to entrain for the frontier, and at half-past nine we all gazed
eagerly at the railway-line opposite until the westward-bound
train came flying past, and we saw the waving handkerchiefs of
the released men, which we answered back with a tremendous
shout. There had been similar scenes on the 6th of every previous
month, when the men who had passed their fifty-fifth year were
sent back to England, but on no occasion was the joy so great
or were the hopes so high as on the 6th of September, for that
marked for us the beginning of a new era.

In order to ascertain who wished to be examined by the mili-
tary doctor, with a view to being exchanged, all the captains
were supplied with typewritten forms which they distributed
among those men in their barracks who considered themselves
ineligible. On the form we had to state our name, age, occupa-
tion, and the nature of our maladies. The forms were then
collected and sent to the military office. In determining the
order of priority, the doctor first selected the cases he had been
treating for many months, either as out-patients or in the " laz-
aret," as well as those sent to the sanatorium of Dr. Weiler, in

THE SECOND WINTER 173

Charlottenburg. On October 5th a list was posted up outside
the Captain's office of about thirty prisoners who would " prob-
ably " leave the next day for England, and on the following
morning there was a repetition of the exchange of farewell
greetings as the train sped on to the West. As soon as all the
urgent cases were disposed of, the captains made selections
from their lists, usually according to age, and about twelve
men were sent up from each barrack to be examined by the
doctor. On the 6th of November the number of men released
rose to a hundred, and our hopes rose proportionately higher.

At last, on Saturday, November 13, 1915, I was included in
a score of men sent up from my barrack for medical examination.
There was an almost equal number from many other barracks,
and altogether over two hundred men were lined up on the
damp, dreary morning outside the doctor's consulting-room.
We entered ten at a time, stripped to the waist, and were ex-
amined in turn by the military doctor, Dr. Geiger, a short,
slight, spectacled man of few words, whose beady eyes seemed
to pierce us like X-rays when we faced him. When my turn
came I reminded him of the recurrent attacks of sciatica to
which I had been subjected, and for which he had given me
dozens of aspirin tablets ; but he maintained a stony silence,
calmly and deftly examined me, and then made some mysterious
mark opposite my name on his list. It would have been unwise
on my part to have asked him the result of the examination, for
Prussian officials have their own peculiar way of working. The
doctor's business was simply to examine us, not to give us any
information, and any attempt to extract information would not
have benefited us.

On the following Wednesday morning the suspense in which
I had passed the last few days was banished. I received a type-
written slip summoning me to the Captains' Office at ten o'clock
to be photographed, and I was overjoyed, for the photograph
was required for my passport, and that was a sure indication of
impending release. My friends showered their congratulations
upon me, and begged me to be sure and call upon their people in
London. There were so many prisoners to be photographed that
morning, nearly two hundred in all, that we were snapped three
at a time, seated in chairs close to one another, whilst a big crowd
of envious fellow-prisoners looked on, wishing they were also

174 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

sick. On Saturday, November 20, my midget photographs,
which made me look ghastly, were delivered, and as I paid 1.50
marks (eighteenpence) for three 1 thought the sum very little
as the price of liberty. In the afternoon some clerks from the
American Embassy in Berlin arrived in the Camp for the pur-
pose of filling in passports, and as I lined up outside the Captains'
Office I felt that I was another stage nearer home. Fortunately,
the passport I had obtained from the British Consulate-General
in Berlin three years before the war was still valid, so that the
formalities in my case were soon discharged. Other men had to
produce their birth-certificate or other documents to show they
were entitled to a passport, whilst among the pro-German
aspirants to release there were some who could not even answer
the clerks' questions in English.

The next two weeks were a time of suspense, which I found
even harder to bear than my two weeks in the Stadtvogtei
Prison. I received a hint from one of the military officers that
I should not be released on the 6th of December, as I had ex-
pected, and my heart sank ; from another quarter I was assured
that my release was certain, and my heart rose again. But when
the list of a hundred and fifty names was posted up on Decem-
ber 4 I searched it in vain. I had feared that my fortnight's
imprisonment constituted a black mark which would deprive
me of my chance of release ; but as a fellow-prisoner who had
had five weeks' imprisonment at a much later date for a similar
offence was included in the list, I dismissed that hypothesis as
untenable. Or could it be because I was a journalist ? But
then other journalists had been released. It was useless to at-
tempt to find out the reason of my continued detention ; and
as I gradually discovered that there were upwards of eighty
men who were similarly disappointed, whose record in the
Camp was blameless, and whose occupation was unimpeachable,
I came to the conclusion that there was no political or military
objection to my release and that I must bide my time in patience.
My case was at least not as distressing as that of some other
prisoners, whose names were included in the lucky list but
struck off a few hours later, and one of whom had already paid
his fare (which was naturally returned). On the morning of the
5th a huge crowd gathered in front of a roped-off space outside
the military offices, to watch the examination of the baggage

THE SECOND WINTER 175

of the men who were leaving on the morrow, and we were
astonished to note that they were not allowed to take with
them any new woollen or flannel underwear or new shirts — or
any that seemed new — as well as any woollen blankets ; but
men who, after more than a year's captivity, are on the eve of
release do not argue with their captors over a shirt or two, and
they gladly presented the forbidden articles to friends who
remained behind. The only reason for the prohibition, so far
as I could gather, was that it was prescribed by the general
German law against the export of woollen manufactures ; but
it was monstrous so to interpret this law as to deprive a prisoner
of war of his underclothing on the eve of his release. At half-
past six the following morning, although it was still pitch-dark,
nearly half the Camp was afoot to watch the departure of the
hundred and fifty lucky men. They marched out, four abreast,
in four batches, under military escort to the Spandau Station,
where a special train was in waiting to bear them to the Dutch
frontier.

About a week before this happy exodus took place we received
another batch of prisoners. They were about thirty altogether,
and they came from Wittenberg. We had never before heard
that there was a. Camp at Wittenberg, and certainly did not think
that as late as November, 1915, there were British civilian
prisoners in Germany in other camps than at Ruhleben. But
the story that we then heard from these poor fellows of Witten-
berg, and which did not reach the British public until some four
months later, made us horrified at the barbarity that was per-
petrated for so many months under the diabolical cloak of
Kultur. Our new fellow-prisoners had, for the most part, been
captured in Belgium and Northern France, and they had been
in other German camps before they were sent to Wittenberg.
The terrible privations and sufferings they had undergone in the
typhus-ridden camp had left traces behind them : they were
all weak, emaciated, and dejected ; their cheeks were pale and
hollow, their eyes wore a hunted look, and they spoke of their
experiences quietly and furtively, as though afraid of spies.
Never shall I forget the story of the young man who told me
how he and two chums were taken prisoners together in a town
in Northern France, and kept together through all the months
of suffering until he awoke one morning and found them on either

176 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

side of him, dead in their beds. The sympathy aroused by the
story of these prisoners from Wittenberg immediately secured
them a sufficiency of comforts in the matter of food and clothing
from their new neighbours, and they gradually became accli-
matized to Ruhleben.

The approach of Christmas witnessed the rapid erection of a
large wooden building in the space between Barracks II and XL
It was the Y.M.C.A. Hut presented to us by the American
Y.M.C.A., comprising a large hall with a capacity for five hun-
dred persons, four class-rooms, a reference library, and a small
room that was used for private prayer and as a vestiary. The
inauguration took place on Christmas Eve in the presence of
the military staff, and an English address was delivered by an
American pastor. There was a Christmas tree too — a cruel
reminder of the joys that might have been. The new Hut, or
Hall, as it was more commonly called, was put under the con-
trol of a special committee, and proved a most welcome boon.
It was thrown open the greater part of the day for use as a reading
and writing room, in which no smoking or talking was allowed,
and it often presented a busy scene of quiet industry when it
was filled with prisoners seated on their own chairs with port-
able desks, and doing their " home-work " for the Camp school.
Popular lectures and concerts were also held in the Hall, generally
on a Saturday evening, at which, in contradistinction to the
gatherings at the Grand Stand Hall, there was no charge for
admission ; and the committee of the school actually organized
there what was called a " Conversazione," although evening
dress was not worn nor were refreshments obtainable. The Hall
was declared to be open to all, irrespective of denomination,
and that was probably the reason why the authorities com-
mandeered it on January 27 for the service in celebration of the
Kaiser's birthday, and kept all prisoners away from it by means
of sentries until the service was over.

Christmas was celebrated much more happily than it had been
in 1914, for most prisoners had received a sufficiency, and some
even an abundance, of parcels (with a goodly supply of Christ-
mas puddings), so that a voluntary collection of gifts was made
for those less favoured. New Year's Eve too was celebrated
quite merrily by a large number, and in striking contrast to the
silence and solemnity of the previous year. For although we

THE SECOND WINTER 177

all officially retired at nine o'clock, few went to sleep, and as the
hour of midnight approached those who had kept vigil rose,
dressed and awoke their neighbours, so that upon the stroke
of twelve every stable and every barrack resounded with the
greetings of " Happy New Year ! "

The winter of 1915-16 was, on the whole, severe, though
somewhat better borne than the first winter. It began with a
heavy fall of snow on October 27, which was immediately utilized
for a snowball fight on the race-course ; and subsequent snow-
falls were similarly used. But despite the severe frost by which
we were visited the authorities refused to place any steam-pipes
in the circulating library and the adjoining " cubby-holes "
(which were used for study), although they were specially fixed
in the adjoining parcels offices ; and hence for many days in
several successive weeks there was a notice posted on the library
windows : " Closed owing to the cold." The steam-pipes in our
barracks generally began to diffuse their heat about midday,
and thus many men made little stoves out of biscuit -boxes which
they filled with charcoal bricks called " dallies," but whilst they
warmed their hands they inhaled poisonous fumes. The great
want in the winter was a large, well-heated recreation-room, in
which one could talk, smoke, or play games at one's pleasure ;
and for the lack of which we were compelled to tramp up and
down on the parade opposite the grand stands, or, if it was wet,
on the grand stands themselves, until we got blue in the face and
prayed for the return of summer.

12

CHAPTER XIX

FOOD AND HEALTH CONDITIONS

Germany's scientific menu — Miserable rations — " The first to be starved " —
Begging and stealing bread — Dr. Taylor's sensational reports — The Casino-
Canteens and parcels — Maladies and medical treatment — Convalescent Barrack
— Unpleasant consultations — Revierstube and Lazaret — Charlottenburg Sana-
torium — Dental surgery — Eye troubles — Physical changes — Deaths.

T

K~ ~^HE laws of nations prescribe that prisoners of war shall
be adequately fed by the State in whose power they
happen to be. This rule was, from the very beginning,
grossly ignored by the German Government in its treatment of
the civilian prisoners at Ruhleben. The diet supplied to the
prisoners of war in Germany is regulated and determined by a
special department of the Prussian War Office, which is under
the control of Professor Backhaus ; but although the daily
menu may be scientifically unimpeachable, it fails to take certain
essential human considerations into account. It is based upon
an estimate of the number of calories required for human sub-
sistence ; but it overlooks such important factors as the
tastes, habits, and customs of the persons concerned. Even
if the quantity of food supplied by the military authorities
for the prisoners at Ruhleben had been sufficient, which it
never was, the quality and the mode of preparation made it
unpalatable and unacceptable to the great bulk of the captive
community.

It was impossible, even in the palmiest days of the summer
of 1915, for any prisoner to be satisfied with the official rations.
A breakfast at seven o'clock, consisting of a bowl of coffee made
of acorns, without milk or sugar ; a dinner at twelve o'clock
consisting of a bowl of vegetable soup with bits of potato and,
if one were lucky, a thin strand of meat or a bone ; and a supper
at five o'clock, consisting of weak cocoa or " skiiiy," or the mid-
178

FOOD AND HEALTH CONDITIONS 179

day soup, varied by a small piece of liver-sausage ; and, for the
whole day, about ten ounces of black "war-bread' (probably
so called because it could be used as a projectile) : such was our
daily fare for the first six months. When the kitchens were taken
out of the swindling hands of the private contractor and placed
under the control of the captains there was a gradual improve-
ment, for the meat was no longer boiled up in the soup and every
man received a morsel (except on Tuesday and Friday, the meat-
less days), whilst potatoes were also served separately. For a
month or two each barrack also received a midget beefsteak
about once a week, though this article was not quite the delicacy
its name may suggest. The dinners were often varied or supple-
mented by rice and prunes, until this dish became a joke even
on our Camp stage ; and the suppers occasionally consisted of
dried herrings and potatoes in their jackets. But towards the
end of 1915 there began a gradual but appreciable decline both
in the quantity and quality of our rations, which continued right
down till the following summer, when Dr. Alonzo E. Taylor, the
medical expert of the American Embassy, made his sensational
reports.

That the authorities were not particularly concerned about
our being properly fed was illustrated by an incident that occurred
in February, 1915, when there was a serious reduction in the
ration of " war-bread " — from one-fifth to one-sixth of a three-
pound loaf. The captains appealed one day to the military
officer in charge of the stores, Rittmeister von Miiller, to give
them a few hundred loaves in addition to the fixed ration, in
order to avert a threatened riot, whereupon that saturnine
officer replied : " Your Government wants to starve us out.
Very well then, you shall be the first to be starved out ! ' The
loaves were not given, but fortunately the captains were able
to make a collection of pieces of bread in different barracks, and
thus appeased the clamour of the hungry. The authorities
actually thought that we were hoarding bread and instituted
periodical searches in the barracks to find out hidden stores, but
naturally without avail. It was bad enough for a prisoner to
have to beg bread from a fellow-prisoner, but a climax was
reached when bread was stolen to sate the pangs of hunger, and
a riot broke out in the negroes' barrack, owing to such a case of
theft, in which a revolver (which had strangely remained undis-

180 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

covered all the time) and a knife were brandished. It was not
until we began receiving loaves from England and Switzerland
that the shortage was alleviated (5560 bread-parcels being re-
ceived in the month of April, 1916, alone) ; and then the demand
for Camp bread gradually declined until in the summer of 1916
there were hardly a thousand men who took it.

In the report, dated May I, 1916, 1 which Dr. Taylor, after a
careful personal investigation, drew up, he stated that " the
food provided and served during the week of this survey was
not sufficient in any direction to provide nourishment for the
3700 men concerned, had they been entirely dependent upon
it." He pointed out the difficulty with which the kitchen-
inspectors had to cope, as the number of men who fetched their
dinners fluctuated from day to day, according to the attractive-
ness of the menu, causing a shortage for the last barrack on the
day when the expected number was exceeded. Thus, in the first
week of his investigation, out of the total of 3700 prisoners the
number of men who fetched their dinners on the seven days
were 2258, 1980, 2019, 2480, 2235, 1676, and 2380. Dr. Taylor
also related that he witnessed the opening of seventeen large,
tins of Brathering, a smoked herring used to supplement fresh
fish on meatless days : " Five of the tins were distended with
gas, which rushed out when the tins were punctured. The
contents of these tins were found to be in a state of advanced
putrefaction. The contents of the other twelve tins were not
putrefied, but could not be regarded as in satisfactory condition.
I believe that this lot of herring should be condemned." Dr.
Taylor's description of the Camp bread as corresponding " in
quality, texture and appearance with the black bread served
in the ordinary beer restaurant in Berlin " is not correct. The
Camp bread was much inferior in quality, taste, texture, and
appearance to any bread that I ever ate in a Berlin restaurant
either before or since the war.

In his report, dated May 24, 1916, 2 Dr. Taylor pointed out
that the weekly amount of meat, fish, and potato allotted to the
prisoners at Ruhleben was much less than that given to com-
batant prisoners. " It provides per man per week 200 grammes
(less than 8 ozs.) of fresh meat (including bones). It provides,

1 White Paper, Miscellaneous, No. 18 (1916).

2 White Paper, Miscellaneous, No. 21 (1916).

FOOD AND HEALTH CONDITIONS 181

secondly, 1600 lbs. (800 kilog. gross weight) fresh fish (correspond-
ing to about 215 grammes per man per week) or 200 grammes
sausage or legumes. The potato ration is 4000 grammes (about
8 lbs.) per week per man. Viewing the protein content of the
sausage and fish as equal in both estimates, it is apparent that
the military prisoner of war is allotted per week 1150 grammes
of these protein-carrying foods, while the civil prisoner of war
in Ruhleben is allotted 400 grammes of the same articles, a little
more than one-third the amount allotted the military prisoner
of war. The potato ration of the civil prisoner is less than half
that of the military prisoner." And in a later report dated
June 14, 1916, 1 Dr. Taylor pointed out that although the amount
for food set down in the Ruhleben Camp budget was 2600 marks
per day, the military authorities had not been permitted for
some time (presumably by the War Office) to expend this entire
sum, and that savings " variously estimated between 60,000 and
200,000 marks " were said to have accumulated. The con-
cluding advice of Dr. Taylor set forth in detail and with emphasis
to the British Government, was that a sufficient supply of food-
parcels, containing an adequate amount of fats, especially
butter or margarine, cheese, and condensed milk, should be
sent to supplement the scanty rations, and that the dispatch of
parcels should be organized and centralized so as to ensure a
sufficient quantity of food-stuffs reaching every prisoner every
week.

In addition to the food supplied by the Camp kitchens it was
also possible for those with means to obtain meals at the Casino.
This was used as the mess-room of the officers and " non-coms."
and a section of it was open to the prisoners. At first it was
accessible only to those in delicate health, who had to obtain a
special pass from the doctor ; but admission was gradually ex-
tended to all who could afford to dine there (a satisfying meal
costing about three marks), whilst the Camp voluntary workers
were also supplied there with a free dinner daily at the expense
of the Camp Fund. The room reserved for prisoners had accom-
modation for about sixty, and there were small tables covered
with a white cloth. A red-coloured pass entitled the holder to
stay in the room for an hour at midday and an hour in the
evening ; a blue-coloured pass only for an hour in the evening ;

1 White Paper, Miscellaneous, No. 21 (1916).

182 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

and every pass gave the holder the right to purchase one glass
of beer. A sentry was always on guard at the entrance to the
Casino, and he punctiliously signed his initials on the back of
the pass, in the square bearing the date of the particular day :
for each pass was available only for a month, and the back was
intersected into thirty-one squares. But in proportion as the
portals of the Casino were widened its menu diminished, until
most of its frequenters went there only in the evening for a glass
of lager and a smoke.

The only other means in the Camp of supplementing the
rations consisted of the canteens, the stock of which also decreased
in the second winter to such an extent that at the beginning of
1916 the two canteens were merged into one. During the seven
months from November, 1915, to June, 1916, no butter, mar-
garine, or condensed milk was on sale at the canteen. Eggs were
sold only once (at twenty-five pfennige, about 3d.), and nobody
could buy more than one. Fresh milk was sold only for a few
months, and in a limited quantity, previous to August, 1915.
It was brought into the Camp primarily in the interests of grow-
ing lads, of whom about forty or fifty were supplied with a glass
of milk and an egg almost daily during the summer of 1915,
not, of course, at the expense of the military authorities, but at
that of the Camp Fund. The diminution of food supplies at
Ruhleben naturally made the British Government declare,
through the medium of the American Embassy, that if the German
Government could not feed its prisoners it ought to release them.
But this argument fell on deaf ears. The distress was alleviated
by the dispatch of increased numbers of parcels from relatives,
friends, and philanthropic societies in England, the total in May,
1916, being close upon 40,000 ; whilst the British Government
also began to send from 600 to 700 parcels daily. Probably at
no time after the first winter was there a shortage of food sup-
plies from England, but whilst one-half of the prisoners received
enough, or a little more, about 250 received practically nothing,
and another 500 received parcels so rarely that the contents were
of little help. These inequalities have doubtless been eliminated
in consequence of the generous action of the British Government.
At the beginning of April, 1916, a large cooking-range was in-
stalled (at British expense, of course) in the main boiler-house,
at which all kinds of baking, boiling, stewing, and frying were

THE PARCELS OFFICE

INTERIOR OF KITCHEN

FOOD AND HEALTH CONDITIONS 183

done under the supervision of a ship's cook, assisted by several
fellow-prisoners, so that the shortcomings of the military kitchens
were, to some extent, made good.

A combination of factors conspired to militate against the
good health of the Ruhleben community. Herded in stables
and barracks that were insufficiently heated and lighted, and
that were always filled with an oppressive atmosphere ; exposed
to the rigours of winter, to draughts, the dampness of the soil,
and the evil odours of the latrines : it was inevitable that the
prisoners, especially those of weaker constitutions and more
advanced age, should be subject to various ailments from time
to time. The most frequent maladies were colds, influenza,
rheumatism in all its manifold manifestations, diphtheria, and
pneumonia, whilst the first summer was marked by an epidemic
of German measles. A Ruhleben cold was much more serious
than an ordinary cold, and took weeks to shake off. During the
first six months the medical attendance was shamefdlly inade-
quate. The first medical officer, Dr. Lachmann, was of kindly
disposition, but his stay was brief, as after two months he con-
tracted illness himself and died under an operation. His succes-
sor, Dr. Geiger, was, for about the first six months, not only
utterly unsympathetic but cruelly cynical to his patients, and
a prisoner had to feel pretty bad before he sought his aid or
advice. During the first six months there was only one doctor
for the 4500 prisoners : he was in attendance in his room for
two hours, at the utmost, in the morning, after which he left
the Camp for the rest of the day. No matter what accident
might happen, or what serious complications might ensue, there
was no medical treatment possible until the following morning.
The only deputy of the doctor was an ill-educated Sanitdts-
Offizier (nursing orderly), who, at the best, might render first
aid. I well remember the case of a young man who, in the first
winter, was lying ill with pneumonia and was positively delirious
in an overcrowded and evil-smelling hay-loft, and who had to
wait two days before the doctor bestirred himself to pay him
a visit. The deficient medical service led to the formation in
January, 1915, of a Good Samaritan Fund by Messrs. Delmer,
Whitehead, and W. Stern ; and a prisoner with some medical
knowledge procured an assortment of drugs and began to minister
to his fellow-prisoners, but he had not continued his activity long

184 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

before the authorities heard of it, confiscated his medicine chest,
and forbade him to practise any further.

Fortunately an improvement came at the beginning of the
first summer, when the consulting-room was transferred from
the military offices, where patients had had to stand and wait
patiently, often for an hour and more, in a cold and draughty
lobby, to a part of the Schonungs-Baracke (Convalescent Barrack),
where there was a waiting-room furnished with benches and
heated by a stove. The new consulting-room was about three
times as large as the old one, and there was a certain improve-
ment in the demeanour of the doctor, who was provided with an
assistant. His first assistant was Dr. Marcotti, who stayed only
a few months, and his second, Dr. Kapp, both of whom were
able to speak English well enough for the purpose, and who
examined their patients without making them feel that they were
prisoners. As for those who consulted Dr. Geiger, they were
helped by an interpreter, Mr. Stanley Lambert, who cheerfully
devoted himself to this work from the very beginning. The
treatment, no matter what the ailment, consisted almost in-
variably of aspirin tablets. During my nineteen months' intern-
ment I never heard of any patient who was given liquid medicine.
Even in these comparatively improved conditions nobody con-
sulted the doctor who could possibly avoid it, and I once suffered
the agonies of sciatica for a week before I overcame my reluc-
tance to visit him. The unpleasantness lay, not so much in the
consultation itself as in the prolonged waiting and the un-
certainty of being treated, for often there were over a hundred
men waiting, there was only one doctor in attendance, and even
he was liable to the interruption caused by the visit of some
guards who had to be examined immediately to see if they could
be promoted to the Front ; or he might suspend his consultations
for an hour in order to visit the " lazaret." I once spent two
and a half hours in the waiting-room before I reached the
doctor, and my patience was rewarded with a couple of aspirin
tablets.

Those who were in a delicate state of health and needed particu-
lar warmth, quiet and careful attention, were accommodated in
the Convalescent Barrack, where they were exempt, of course,
from the usual daily parades. This barrack was divided into
two parts. The first part was occupied by twenty pairs of beds,

FOOD AND HEALTH CONDITIONS 185

one above another, the occupants of which were able to move
about during the day. In the other part, which was called the
Revierstube, there were generally ten ailing persons who were
kept under observation, and to whom the doctor had immediate
access from his consulting-room. Mr. Lambert acted as captain
of the Convalescent Barrack from the day it was opened, and
he was assisted by four attendants, three of whom received five
marks and the other three marks weekly. He insisted on sea-
weed mattresses, sheets, and pillows being provided for the
Revierstube, and on suitable nourishment being given to the
patients and convalescent prisoners, and as the military authori-
ties would not supply these things they were furnished by the
captains from the Relief and Camp Funds. Patients in a more
serious condition were sent across to the " lazaret " or hospital
at the Emigrants' Railway Station, opposite the Camp. For
about the first ten months the conditions at this hospital were
utterly disgraceful. The " wards " were dirty and insufficiently
heated ; there were no baths, apart from the douches used by
all prisoners ; there was no special nourishment, and the food
brought from the Camp kitchens was often cold before it arrived ;
there were no nurses apart from a German orderly who was always
brutal, and occasionally drunk ; and the patients had to wait
upon themselves as best they could. Sick prisoners preferred to
remain in their horse-boxes or lofts, where at least their friends
could look after them, rather than be sent to what was only a
hospital in name, but, to all intents and purposes, was a punish-
ment cell. Ultimately, owing to the repeated representations
made by the American Ambassador, many of the evils were
removed about October, 1915. The cleanliness was improved,
the patients were provided with sanitary uniforms, and a new
cooking-range and hot and cold baths were installed. Six
prisoners were employed to keep the premises clean at a weekly
wage of five marks each, and four men were employed at a
weekly wage of three marks each to carry the food across from
the Camp kitchens, the money being paid, of course, out of the
Camp Fund. The inmates of the "lazaret" were visited every
morning by the doctor.

Owing to the overcrowding of the "lazaret " and the difficulty
of providing proper treatment for many prisoners, an official
infirmary was established at Dr. Weiler's Sanatorium in Chariot-

186 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

tenburg, the populous western suburb of Berlin. 1 There were
two divisions at the Sanatorium, one in which patients had to
pay seven (afterwards eight) marks per day, and the other in
which they had to pay ten (afterwards twelve) marks per day.
Those who were unable to pay for their treatment were placed
in the cheaper divisions, and the expense was disbursed by the
American Embassy from British funds, though the patients had
to sign an undertaking that they would repay the money as soon
as circumstances permitted. Those who had means could enter
what division they pleased. According to all accounts (for I was
never a patient there myself), the rooms were all very clean and
well lighted, and the beds were clean and comfortable. In the
cheaper division there were five or six beds in each room, but the
rooms were large. The patients had only a small yard, with one
or two trees in it, for exercise, and as they were unable to go for
walks they felt the irksomeness of their confinement. In the
dearer division there were only two patients in each room, and
they were able to walk about in a pleasant garden of at least
two acres. Writing on June 3, 1915, Mr. G. W. Minot, of the
American Embassy, observed : " The patients are all given five
meals a day, consisting of a first and second breakfast, dinner,
tea, and supper. These meals are not very large, but they cer-
tainly afford sufficient nourishment to men who are supposedly
invalids." 1 Twelve months later I heard from some of the in-
mates at the Sanatorium that their happiest day in the week was
when their English parcels, that had arrived at Ruhleben, were
brought to them. The total number of men that the Sanatorium
could accommodate was a hundred. At the time when I was
released it was contemplated, in the interests of economy, to
give up the use of Dr. Weiler's establishment and to secure and
convert into a sanatorium a large private house just bordering
on the Camp.

During the first few weeks of our internment several men
obtained a half -day furlough to visit a dentist. The result was
that a Berlin dentist was commissioned to visit the Camp two
mornings a week ; but his treatment was defective, owing partly
to the limited number of instruments he brought with him, and
his charges were excessive, especially as he often damaged the
natural and artificial teeth of his patients (as I learned from sad

1 White Paper, Miscellaneous, No. 13 (1915)-

FOOD AND HEALTH CONDITIONS 187

experience). The only satisfactory solution of the difficulty was
to fit up a proper dental surgery in the Camp, and this was
accordingly done. The surgery was established in some rooms
below the first grand stand, and was most elaborately equipped
and furnished with all the latest improvements. There were
two separate operating-rooms, besides a third room for a dental
mechanic. The two qualified dental surgeons who were installed
there were prisoners, Dr. P. Rutterford and Dr. Sumner Moore,
who also lived in an adjoining room. The cost of establishing
the surgery was 8000 marks, and the amount spent upon materials
was 4000 marks, the money being disbursed by the American
Embassy out of the British Fund at its disposal. The demand
for treatment was so great, when the surgery was opened in
August, 1 9 15, that a list of prisoners was kept in the order of
application, and each man (unless in pain) had to wait his turn.
I had to wait six weeks before my turn came and was just in
time to prevent the development of an abscess owing to the bad
workmanship of the Berlin dentist. Prisoners were charged for
treatment and materials at a moderate rate, and those who
could not pay signed an undertaking to refund the amount to the
British Government at the earliest opportunity. From the
receipts 30 per cent went to write off the 8000 marks and 70
per cent to write off the 4000 marks, and as soon as the entire
sum is paid off future profits will go to the dental operators.

Eye troubles were also of frequent occurrence, not only on
the part of those who suffered before internment, but also of
many others, who were affected by the dust and dirt that were
always flying about and by the defective light in the barracks.
Owing to these causes at least three prisoners (within my know-
ledge) lost the sight of an eye. An oculist visited the Camp two
or three times a week and began by charging each patient five
marks for the first visit and three marks for each subsequent
visit. Then, repenting of his moderation, he secured the assent
of the American Embassy and the captains to charge ten marks
for the first and five marks for each subsequent visit. The
oculist was a good practitioner, but his charges were inordinately
high, and he unduly protracted the treatment of each case. For
these reasons the American Ambassador secured the services
of another specialist who should visit the Camp twice a week at
one hundred marks a visit, irrespective of the number of cases.

188 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

The prolonged internment produced various changes among
the prisoners. Several of the young ship's boys increased three
to four inches in height. Most of the men who were stout on
arrival gradually lost flesh. Many middle-aged men became
grey-haired or white-haired, and others lost their hair altogether.
The general undermining of one's constitution is not fully realized
until after one has been released and is faced anew by the battle
of life. It is impossible for me to say how many deaths occurred
as these usually took place in the "lazaret." There was only one
case of death that occurred in a barrack, namely, that of the
jockey Lister, who died suddenly early one Sunday morning in
May, 1916. In most cases of death a barrack captain and a few
friends of the deceased were allowed, under military escort, to
attend the funeral, the expense of which was borne by British
funds. Sad as such occasions were, a wreath was never forgotten.

CHAPTER XX

MENTAL, MORAL AND SPIRITUAL FACTORS

Varied effects of internment — Monotony of daily life — Occupations and
diversions — Lust for excitement — Betting — Gambling — Drinking — Attempted
escapes and suicide — Mental derangement — Coarse language — Influence on
youthful prisoners — Vice — Religious denominations and services.

THE psychical effects of prolonged internment in a
prison camp are not uniform : they vary with the
intellectual calibre, the moral character, and the per-
sonal circumstances of the persons interned. The mere loss of
physical liberty is the least of the evils that have to be endured :
much graver and more injurious are the isolation from the out-
side world, the restriction and censorship of private correspond-
ence, the constant brooding upon the uncertain future, and the
oppressive monotony of the daily life. Married men are naturally
more seriously affected than single men, for they are always
concerned about their wives and families, whose cares they
cannot relieve and whose welfare they picture to themselves in
gloomy colours. Men who have been cut off from the pursuit
of their business or profession upon which they are materially
dependent are racked by a gnawing anxiety that is unknown to
the prisoner of independent means, for they fear that their
freedom will also confront them with ruin. And men of middle
age and beyond, whose valuation of a year of life increases in
inverse proportion to the number of years yet before them, are
afflicted by a feeling of melancholy from which high-spirited
youth is spared. How each individual battles with the difficulties
by which he is assailed, and either conquers or is crushed by them,
is a question that is solely determined by the personal factor.

Life at Ruhleben Camp was unquestionably monotonous
despite all the local interests we developed in time. Every day
was like the one before it and like the day after it. The daily

189

190 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

round was made up of a series of unexciting incidents that
followed one another with clockwork regularity in stereotyped
succession. Rising at half-past six every morning, lining up at
the tap to get water for a wash, lining up on parade at seven,
crowding round the parcel lists, lining up at the boiler-house for
hot water for breakfast, lining up for a newspaper, lining up for
a parcel, or a library book, or a theatre ticket ; then a couple
of hours of reading, or study, or sport, or lounging ; lining up
for dinner, crowding round the postman, lining up at the canteen
for sugar, or cheese, or sardines, and at the stores for cigarettes,
and lining up again at the newspaper shed, and again at the
boiler-house for hot water for tea ; and the evening spent at a
lecture, or concert, or play, followed by a monotonous peram-
bulation up and down the parade, until we were roused and dis-
persed by the fire-bell, and lined up again for the second parade,
and wandered mechanically back to horse-box or hay-loft, and
retired at nine : such was our daily programme that was seldom
varied except by the latest extravagant rumour, or seventy-two
hours in the cells or " bird-cage " for smoking in a loft. And
such a programme, day after day, and month after month, and,
alas, year after year, is apt to pall even upon the most buoyant
or the most philosophical. For you are wearied unto death by
the sameness of the sounds and sights, by your friends who make
the same stale jokes about the war lasting only thirty years,
and by acquaintances who cynically enquire " How are you
getting on ? ' You know every face and figure in the Camp as
though you had lived there all your life. You are familiar with
evety barrack and canteen, with every shed and store, with every
road and mud-puddle, with every stone, and hollow, and declivity,
and drain-pipe, with every shadow and outline throughout the
area of less than half a square mile.

The easiest way to kill this monotony was to engage in some
definite and regular occupation, and the Camp afforded ample
opportunities for those who sought them. There were, in the
first place, a number of openings for voluntary or paid workers
in the canteens and stores, the kitchens, fatigue parties, post
and parcel offices, captains' and cashiers' offices, school and
libraries ; or if one wished to entertain one's fellow-prisoners as
well as amuse oneself, there were theatricals and concerts.
Artists could draw or paint and musicians could play unto their

MENTAL, MORAL AND SPIRITUAL FACTORS 191

soul's content (there was a coloured violinist who fiddled away in
the wash-house the whole day long) ; whilst students could
increase their knowledge of any science, art, or language and fill
the gaps in their pre-war education. Those who thirsted for
public life could serve on one or more of the three dozen com-
mittees with which the Camp abounded ; and those who had a
passion for creative work could find some quiet nook and indite
a poem, an essay, a sketch, or a one-act play, or compose a melan-
choly song. The conditions were adverse to any continuous
or sustained creative work, for the necessary seclusion was
impossible, and interruptions were all too frequent ; yet the
inventive faculty was not altogether atrophied. One man
fashioned a little aeroplane out of tin, wood, and canvas, which
he flew to the delight of his fellow-prisoners ; another invented
a game of " water-billiards," played with little oars and balls
in a water-tank on a billiard table ; whilst we had several clever
models of horse-boxes and latrines, and the inevitable violin
made out of a cigar-box.

But all these things, however novel at first, lost their savour
with the lapse of time, for they were gradually suffused with the
monotony that enveloped everything and everybody. Even the
sports, the concerts, and the plays must not be judged in the
same light as they would be in a free environment ; they were
for us not luxuries but necessities, if we were not all to succumb
to the physical and mental lassitude that overtook so many.
They never made us forget that we were prisoners or made us
content with our plight : they simply helped to sweeten an
hour or two that would otherwise have bored us. True, there
were men who were so profoundly absorbed in their varied
occupations that they actually seemed to forget where they were,
and why they were there. A certain scientist, who did a great
deal of pioneer work in the organization of studies at Ruhleben,
was asked one day by a friend what he thought of the war,
whereupon he blandly replied : " What war ? " This attitude
was perhaps affected, but the story nevertheless illustrates the
mentality of a particular group. On the other hand, there were
many unappeasable Jeremiahs, who deprecated all form; of
entertainment or amusement as incompatible with their lot.
" Why make a theatre in this Camp ? " protested the pessimists ;
" why print a magazine ? why plant flower-beds ? ' ' Fortunately

192 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

for the sanity of the Camp these grumblings never assumed any
organized or effective expression, but after nearly two years of
internment there were still prisoners who thought it unseemly
to attend the theatre or even the cinema show. These melan-
choly captives were always moping and brooding, asking one
another how long the war would last, and daily drifting deeper
into a state of incurable depression.

What everybody longed for was something exciting, some-
thing that contrasted with the dull drab pattern of our sombre
lives, something that would disperse the clouds of monotony
if only for an hour. That w r as why there was such a sensation
when half a dozen well-dressed American ladies came to a New
Year matinee of the pantomime, and again when a big fire broke
out one day among the factories of Spandau, sending forth vast
clouds of smoke and flame. But the lust for excitement was
so seldom appeased in the natural course of events, that all sorts
of artificial means and adventitious aids were invoked to gratify
it. The commonest of these was the fabrication of rumours.
At first we thought that Camp rumours had their origin in
confidential intelligence, but we soon realized that they were
invented out of sheer sport, to torment one's fellow-prisoners.
There were rumours about our impending wholesale release,
about our transference to Switzerland, about receiving £500
compensation each upon arrival in England because our intern-
ment had deprived Germany of two army corps. These rumours
were the plague of our life, but they also gave zest to it.

But there were other and more dubious sources of excitement.
Chief among them was betting, in which almost all classes seemed
to indulge. There was betting upon sports and football matches,
upon the arrival of a friend's parcel, upon the fall of the Darda-
nelles, and the fall of Verdun, upon the duration of our intern-
ment, and the length of the war. Gambling, although officially
forbidden, had its numerous devotees, and more than one prisoner
might be called a " profiteer." There was gambling with cards,
with the time-honoured pitch and toss, and even with some
small roulette-tables. And, perhaps strangest of all in a prison
camp where intoxicants were forbidden, there were also occa-
sional cases of drunkenness. These drinking bouts occurred
for the most part among the less educated class, and the drunk-
ards, if caught by the military, were sent either to the cells

MENTAL, MORAL AND SPIRITUAL FACTORS 193

or to the Stadtvogtei Prison. But from time to time they occurred
among the educated section too. One midnight I came across
a tipsy youth of nineteen, of good family and education, leaning
against the wall of the latrine, our " night club," and holding
forth with precocious cynicism on the pleasures of wine and
woman. " Why shouldn't I have a little drink ? ' he said.
" This beastly place is (hiccup) getting on my bally nerves
(hiccup) ! Besides I can stand a drop (hiccup) ! The chap who
had the other half of the bottle has drenched all his bed and is
lying like a log (hiccup). Are we downhearted ? No ! Are
we ? Never ! " The following day I spoke to that youth again,
after he had recovered his sobriety. He looked sheepish, but
was unrepentant. " If I can't get a little harmless excitement
now and again," he said, " I shall go off my head."

Several men gave up the struggle of trying to reconcile them-
selves to their lot : they attempted either to escape or to commit
suicide, or they became victims of mental derangement. The
number of attempts at escape was comparatively small, and the
successes were fewer still. In July, 1915, Messrs. Edward Falk
and Geoffrey Pyke escaped one night from the Camp. Two
months later Mr. Alfred Delbosq, who had a week's furlough,
escaped. And in April, 1916, Messrs. Gaunt and Colston also
escaped. The first attempt at suicide was made early one morning
in March, 1915, by a prisoner with a razor, who was not stopped
until he had inflicted a gash in his throat ; and one or two
attempts were made in the following summer. Cases of mental
derangement were unfortunately more frequent. I cannot
hazard any estimate of their number, but know that a special
section of Dr. Weiler's Sanatorium was reserved for them. In
a few cases the prisoners were slightly affected before they
entered Ruhleben ; in most cases it was their internment that
drove them mad. The military authorities made no discrimina-
tion between the acts of the sane and of the insane. In the
summer of 1915 a demented prisoner who was thought sane
enough to be kept in the camp slipped out through the main
gate unobserved, walked to the Spandau Station, and asked in
English at the ticket-office for a " single to London." The
wanderer was arrested, sentenced to a few weeks' imprisonment
at the " Stadtvogtei," and then interned in the Sanatorium,
whence he was afterwards released to England. Those who lost

13

194 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

their reason were generally released at an early opportunity with
the batches of prisoners found unfit for military service ; but as
a rule they arrived in England in an incurable condition and in
two or three cases they had to be held under restraint. One of
the party of released prisoners that reached Tilbury in January,
1916, a man who had succumbed to melancholia, committed
suicide by jumping into the Thames. Another, who was released
earlier, died in September, 1916, after several months' detention
in Colney Hatch. The spread of insanity at Ruhleben first began
to assume alarming proportions in the summer of 1916, and con-
tinued internment is hardly likely to check its progress.

In an atmosphere that produces mental instability the moral
values of society are also not altogether immune. The friction
and irritation engendered by the herding of educated men in
stables soon found an outlet in vigorous language that varied
between the merely vulgar and the unprintably obscene. Coarse
and filthy vituperations first came from the lips of the lower
stratum of our community, to which they were native, but they
gradually and imperceptibly percolated through the higher
strata, until even the university graduate would unblushingly
utter them. Oaths and expletives that were bandied by navvies
were ironically repeated by respectable business-men, but re-
peated so often until they became an integral part of their
normal vocabulary, and thus every man selected for release to
England was advised by his friends to go into a sort of quarantine
before venturing to emerge in the bosom of his family. The
pernicious effect of this bad language upon the mind and speech
of the younger prisoners, many of them mere boys of fourteen
and upwards, was not slow in manifesting itself. Youth showed
little respect for age, and a lad in his teens would retort upon
a sedate paterfamilias : " You're only a blooming prisoner like
myself ! " Unfortunately the promiscuous crowding together of
men and boys led to the indulgence by a few in secret vice.

The redeeming influence of religion, however, was not absent.
We had four different denominations at Ruhleben — Church of
England, Roman Catholic, German Evangelical, and Jews — all
of whom conducted regular services, besides a little group of
Seventh Day Adventists. The first three bodies worshipped at
first in the Grand Stand Hall, and afterwards in the Y.M.C.A.
Hall, whilst the Jews had a little synagogue adjoining their

MENTAL, MORAL AND SPIRITUAL FACTORS 195

barrack. The Church of England community held two services
every Sunday and one on Wednesday evening, and at the Sunday
afternoon service the sermon was usually delivered by the British
Chaplain at Berlin (the Rev. H. W. Williams) or by a prisoner.
The most frequent and popular lay preacher was Mr. A. H. Kemp,
who was formerly attached to a Seamen's Mission at Hamburg.
The services were generally attended by four or five hundred
worshippers, and they were brightened by effective musical and
choral accompaniment. There was a splendid organ played by
a professional musician, and the well-trained choir of forty
voices held regular weekly practice under the diligent baton of
Mr. J. Ketchum, a young Canadian interned since August 5,
1914. The Wednesday services were usually conducted by the
chairman of the Y.M.C.A. Control Committee, Mr. A. E. Howard,
and the sermons or addresses were invariably delivered by
prisoners, many of them University men.

The Roman Catholic community, which was much smaller,
also had two services on Sunday, besides frequent services at
other times and regular early mass. The Catholics secured the
use of a special room as a chapel, which they beautifully adorned,
and in which vespers were held every evening. Their chaplain
(Pastor Schmidt) was a British missionary of German extrac-
tion, who remained in voluntary internment, and who received
confession. The German Evangelical services were necessitated
by the large number of British subjects who had been born and
bred in Germany. A religious revival was organized early in
1916 by the Continental Secretary of the American Y.M.C.A.,
who, for a week, attracted crowded audiences to his nightly
addresses, but apart from more frequent prayer-meetings in the
Hall no deepening of the religious spirit was produced.

A fellow-prisoner once dilated to me upon the spiritualizing
influence of internment ; but he was a man who always cast his
eyes upward to heaven and overlooked what was taking place
on earth. My own experience is that a prison camp is a poor
nursery for morals, that some of the previously pious may leave
their faith behind them, and that the psychic effects cannot be
shaken off for months. During the first few weeks of liberty I
had an uncomfortable feeling that I was being watched and
followed ; and even now I am still haunted by dreams that
transport me back to the scene of my captivity.

CHAPTER XXI

BARRACK VI

" The Ghetto " — A miniature diaspora — " Pumpernickel " and David — Hot-
water trade — Barrack administration — My iniquity and retirement — Rival con-
venticles — Passover celebration — The Synagogue — Congregational differences —
Kosher dinner vicissitudes — " Immer Baracke Sechs!" — Anti-Semitism — Alleged
pro-Germanism — Share in public activities.

LIFE in Barrack VI was distinguished from that in all
other barracks, not on account of any difference in the
/daily routine, but simply on account of the nature of its
inhabitants. A Jew who prided himself on his non-Jewishness,
though he had a nose of conspicuous aquilinity, contemptuously
spoke of Barrack VI as the " Ghetto " ; and a fellow-" Marrano,"
who considered himself somewhat of an aristocrat, though his
neighbours in the non- Jewish Barrack where he lived seldom
spoke of him otherwise than as " that bloody Jew," patronizingly
described it as " Petticoat Lane." But neither of them, nor
many of the other weak-kneed Jews scattered about in the other
barracks, who lulled themselves into the delusion that their face
did not betray their race, scrupled to visit Barrack VI for a game
of cards, though they shuddered at the thought of living in it
for fear of the odium that they thought attached to it.

Barrack VI was a miniature Jewish diaspora, for its popula-
tion was made up of the natives of various climes and the speakers
of different tongues. We were all, of course, British subjects,
but only the minority were natives of England. The bulk had
their birth-place in Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, or
Rumania ; they had acquired naturalization in England, Canada,
South Africa, or Australia ; and they had either settled in
Germany or been caught there by the war on a holiday or busi-
ness trip. Some had actually been born in Germany and never
seen England, but had derived their British citizenship from a

196

BARRACK VI 197

father born or naturalized in British territory ; and a few, though
born in England, had been brought as infants to the land of the
Kaiser, where they had remained ever since, and thus had only
a Platonic allegiance to Britain. This diversity of origin formed
a frequent theme of discussion and an unfailing source of re-
crimination, the medium of utterance being either English,
German, Russian, or Yiddish, or a mutilated medley of them
all. " Du Berditchever Engldnder ! " the German-born Anglo- Jew
would taunt his neighbour for leaving his horse-box sweepings in
front of his box. " Galizianischer Gazlon! " (Galician robber) the
pale-faced Pole would cry out if hustled at the stable tap during
the morning's ablutions by a fellow-prisoner born on the other
side of the Russian frontier. Each section considered itself as
good as, if not better than the rest, and the quarrels that arose
through this peculiar instinctive antipathy sometimes developed
into a tornado of mutual abuse, but hardly ever into fisticuffs.

Yet the atmosphere that generally prevailed was undoubtedly
peaceful, and a more friendly and fraternal spirit reigned in our
midst than in most of the other barracks. This was particularly
manifest in the evening, when most of the men were seated in
groups in the stable-passage, eating their frugal supper at their
little tables (some of them wrought by themselves), or playing
cards, chess, or dominoes, or reading the evening paper or a book
as near as possible to the electric-light, or discussing Weltpolitik
and the endless aspects of the war. The main source of discord
in our family circle was the yelling and bellowing of our head-
guard, familiarly known among us as " Pumpernickel," who was
occasionally seized by a fit of hyper-zealousness, and raved and
raged at us for smoking in the passage, although he had no
scruple about accepting a cigar, if discreetly presented. The
vituperations in which he indulged (Saujuden and Dreckjuden
being his favourite expressions) induced some of us to form the
decision to complain to the Acting Commandant ; but before
we could carry out that intention he had approached the Baron
himself, with the result that the latter, at the next parade,
threatened that if any prisoner complained about the head-
guard he would be severely punished as an example to others
who wanted to undermine discipline !

The only prisoner who got on well with " Pumpernickel " was
his orderly, David, which we all pronounced " Dah-vid," in the

198 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

German style. David was a native of Manchester, who had
spent the greater half of his forty-four years on the Continent,
in the employment of various circuses. He maintained that he
was a lion-tamer, that he had also tamed tigers, bears, and
giraffes, and that the loss of sight in his left eye was due to the
scratch of an angry tiger. Most of us, influenced by the uncouth
and unprepossessing figure of David, believed that his only con-
nection with wild beasts was as a cleaner of their dens ; though
his own pretence was supported by his successful taming of
" Pumpernickel." The cordiality, nay, the friendship that
existed between David and his master was most remarkable, and
was typified by their addressing one another as Du in the privacy
of the guard's room. David was selected for the post of orderly
as a result of his amateur musicianship on the first of our marches
round the racing-track, a few weeks after our internment, when
he made a mouth-organ out of a pocket-comb and a piece of
paper and blared forth the melody to which we all sang :

" John Broivn's baby's got a pimple on its nose,
John Brown's baby's got a pimple on its nose ;
John Brown's baby's got a pimple on its nose,
As we go marching home ! "

" Pumpernickel " was so delighted with his musical feat that
he presented David on the spot with a cigar and at once pro-
moted him to be his constant attendant. David's duties were
to clean his room, make his bed, brush his boots and clothes,
polish his helmet and buttons, and do any miscellaneous cooking
that might be necessary on the simple stove. His hours were
long, for sometimes he rose at five o'clock to make breakfast
for " Pumpernickel," prior to the latter 's departure with a batch
of prisoners to some other camp ; and he also stayed up with
him late and primed him with strong coffee on the nights before
he had to submit himself for examination by the military doctor,
in order to see whether he was fit to be sent to the front. For
although " Pumpernickel " foamed with patriotism for the
Vaterland, he preferred to "do his bit " in the stables of
Ruhleben.

In return for his services David was allowed to sell hot water
to his fellow-prisoners at a time when such commerce was strictly
forbidden. He literally drove a roaring trade, for he always

BARRACK VI 199

shouted " Boiling water ! " and " Gekochtes Wasser ! " so that
those at the extreme ends of the stable passage could hear, and
he derived what we believed to be no mean income, as we all
preferred to make our own tea and coffee rather than take the
insipid beverage of the Camp kitchen. The usual charge for a
small pot of hot water was ten pfennige (one penny), and nothing
less than five pfennige was accepted for a mere cup, whilst many
men paid a weekly subscription from one to two marks for a
regular supply of the precious liquid. On one occasion the
service was temporarily suspended, as an order was issued from
the military authorities that no hot water was to be supplied to
prisoners, except those who were sick. But David was equal
to the emergency. He called out " Boiling water for sick
people ! " or, more facetiously in German, " Gekochtes Wasser fur
gekrdnkte Leute ! " with the result that we discovered that nearly
everybody in the barrack was sick. David's business flourished
until about the middle of March, 1915, when the boiler-house
for the regular sale of hot water was opened, and though he re-
duced his prices he could not compete with the Camp concern.
But, alas, poor David is now in a place where he can sell hot
water no more. For shortly afterwards he contracted a serious
kidney disease, spent several painful months in the Camp hospital
and Charlottenburg sanatorium, was released in November, 1915,
to England (with " Pumpernickel's " photograph as a parting
gift), and eight months later, after nameless agony, passed
away, unwept and unsung, at the London Hospital.

The only prisoner whom " Pumpernickel " found more than
a match for him was our first Captain, Dr. Katz, who was resolved
to assert his authority in all internal affairs of the barrack. A
silent feud gradually grew up between the two, until our guard
exposed himself to the charge of accepting a Christmas box from
his prisoners (a gift that he wisely returned), whereupon, in
sheer self-defence, he capitulated to the captain. Dr. Katz
was assisted in the administration of order by two " policemen,"
Mr. Sol Asher and myself, for upon our return from the Emigrants'
Station to the Camp my office of postman was assumed by a
fellow-prisoner. I took my duties as a " policeman " rather
lightly, especially as I had no power of arrest, and I generally
confined my functions to exhorting my fellow-captives at nine
o'clock to stop talking and let others sleep. I had the peculiar

200 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

experience that although my fellow-prisoners had been busy
talking with one another the whole day long, they no sooner got
into bed than the floodgates of conversation were let loose as
though they had been held in check for the last twelve hours.
Upon the release of Dr. Katz, owing to his having been born in
a British colony, " Pumpernickel " rejoiced and pinned the arm-
band of office upon the coat-sleeve of Mr. Asher ; but when, a
few weeks later, the Colonials were also interned, Dr. Katz was
brought back but settled in another barrack. As for myself I
remained the sole " policeman," but fear that I left a stain upon
the scutcheon of my office, for (as I have already related in a
previous chapter) I was found guilty of a breach of the regulations
and was transported, with several fellow-criminals, under an
imposing military escort, to the Stadtvogtei gaol for a fortnight's
penitence. Our removal took place on the second evening of
Passover, and I shall never forget the long line of sad faces that
I passed, and the hearty hand-grips that I received, as I wandered
forth to my then unknown punishment. It was " a disturbed
Seder " (ritual service) with a vengeance, and a pall of gloom
was spread over the barrack for several days. Upon my return
I naturally retired from " the force," although I found, from the
ovation I received at the first occasion on the platform of the
Debating Society, that my incarceration was regarded in the
light of an heroic adventure.

Our barrack contained more than a minyan (quorum of ten)
of pious inmates, and hence both daily and Sabbath services
were held. The daily services were usually held in the privacy
of a horse-box, whilst the Sabbath services were conducted in
the central passage, a wooden lectern having been fixed against
the wall and provided with two lighted candles. Before long
two separate congregations came into being, owing to the dis-
satisfaction of one with the Chazan (precentor) of the other, and
then we used to hear two rival strains of sacred melody rising
unto the rafters, one from the central passage and the other
from the dissident horse-box, and each trying to outdo the other.
When the Feast of Chanukah came the candles were lit in the
central passage and the whole stable resounded with the joyous
song of Maoz Tsur ; but the Feast of Purim found us gathered
together in the Grand Stand Hall to listen to the ancient story
of the defeated machinations of Haman. It was not until the

BARRACK VI 201

advent of the first Passover that the Ruhleben Jewish Com-
munity became properly organized and acquired possession of a
synagogue.

The celebration of Passover in captivity — surely the most
incongruous of celebrations — was assisted by the Jewish Soup
Kitchen in Berlin, which provided us, at ten marks a head, with
eight pounds of Matzo (unleavened bread), and with a package
containing two half-bottles of Palestinian wine, two hard-boiled
eggs, a little bottle of charoses (nut paste) and another of mar or
(bitter herbs), as well as with a small packet of salt and a paper-
covered Haggadah. We were also able to buy various Passover
groceries, such as cocoa, sugar, condensed milk, and cakes,
which were supplied by a Jewish firm in Berlin (though at rather
high prices), and we furthermore invested in a new set of eating
utensils. These various articles were sold in a wooden shed,
which was specially erected against the walls of our barrack :
it first of all did service as a canteen and was afterwards con-
verted into a synagogue. The special permission of the Com-
mandant had to be obtained for our consumption of wine, which
was ordinarily forbidden, and several of the " Marannos '
availed themselves of the privilege. Most of the men held the
Seder in their horse-boxes, though a large group combined for
a joint service at one end of the passage, which looked quite
festive with an array of candles along a narrow table and re-
sounded with the joyous strains of the sacred ritual.

The transformation of the shed into a synagogue was under-
taken by a humble inmate of our barrack, who was a skilled
carpenter and a diligent artificer. It was only a simple structure,
with a wooden floor, four windows, and a roof that had to be
doubly waterproofed to prevent the rain from dripping through ;
but by dint of ingenuity it was made into a cosy little Chevrah
(bethel) capable of accommodating about fifty worshippers with
ease, though even double that number contrived to forgather
there at secular meetings. Our Ruhleben Bezalel not only
wrought an ample reading-desk and an Ark of the Law, but he
also furnished the latter with a couple of artistic pillars, one on
each side, made of a number of tin boxes superimposed upon
each other and plastered round with streaked white paper which,
at a distance, looked like marble. He also designed tablets with
the Ten Commandments, which surmounted the Ark ; fashioned

202 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

three imposing chandeliers, to hold candles, out of condensed
milk and mustard tins, and decked the walls with paper, which
was tricked out with the device of the " Shield of David " multi-
plied repeatedly. The cost of building the synagogue was borne
by some pious and munificent co-religionists in Berlin ; and the
scrolls of the Law, with the vestments and curtains of the Ark,
were presented by Mrs. Israel (a niece of the late Chief Rabbi,
Dr. Adler). The permission to build the structure had literally
to be wrung from the military authorities, and it was granted
only upon the condition that it should also be placed at the dis-
posal of the Camp in general for educational purposes. Hence
it was furnished by the Arts and Science Union with a number
of folding tables and chairs, and lectures were held within its
walls on philosophy and mathematics.

Our synagogue established, without all the elaborate cere-
monial of foundation-stone laying, we constituted ourselves into
a congregation and elected a committee with officers of recognized
piety. But that committee no sooner came into being than it
proved the source of intrigues, feuds and wrangles, which diverted
all interest from the progress of the war. Our Bezalel, who was
a member of the committee, complained that most of his col-
leagues thwarted him in his decorative designs ; another member
complained that the name given to the congregation Mattir
Assurim (" Releaser of Prisoners ") applied more appropriately
to convicts than to prisoners of war ; others demanded the
adoption of a long-winded Memorandum setting forth the
history of our congregation, without giving us any opportunity
of studying its text ; and others again agitated for a reform of
the Sabbath service. The general bickering that ensued, the
cabals that were formed, and the threats that were whispered of
establishing a rival congregation, led to a special visit one Sunday
afternoon from a Berlin Rabbi (Dr. Munk), who paid us fort-
nightly visits and delivered homilies, at first in the stable passage
and afterwards in the Synagogue. The mission of the Rabbi was
to hear all the manifold grievances and establish peace, but before
the deliberations began in the little crowded shrine, the peace
was again imperilled by the demand of some partisans that only
paying members should take part in the proceedings and the
rest should withdraw. But the Rabbi poured oil on the troubled
waters ; all remained ; and a number of speeches were delivered,

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BARRACK VI 203

which were almost all concerned merely with the question of
the name of our congregation. Had we been assured that our
congregation would live for a hundred years there could hardly
have been more heat and enthusiasm engendered by the ques-
tion than in our delusion that it would be dissolved in a few
months through our wholesale liberation. The bulk of the
committee pleaded for the retention of the name Mattir Assurim,
which they had already perpetuated by means of a rubber stamp,
and imprinted upon the fly-leaves of Prayer Books ; whilst the
opposition quoted Biblical texts to show that the Hebrew for
" captives " was Shvuyim, and urged that an indelible stain
would be inflicted upon them if in generations to come it was
said that they were members of a " congregation of convicts."
The learned Rabbi, assailed by contrary arguments, prudently
reserved his judgment, which he communicated to us a week later
by letter. He admitted the impropriety of our present designa-
tion, and suggested, as a means of pacifying both sides, the name
Ezra Bazoroh (" Help in Distress ").

Again a general meeting was called, and again there were
mutual recriminations, which could not have been more passion-
ate had we been debating the chances of our immediate release.
The majority of the committee still showed a hankering for the
title Mattir Assurim, in the abolition of which they saw a censure
upon their learning ; and as the name had to die they gloriously
resolved to die with it, or, in other words, to resign. Chaos and
anarchy then threatened us until a majority of the congregants
voted me to the chair, and I soon established a happy solution.
The minority of the committee, piqued by the resignation of the
majority, also refused to serve any longer : for what would there
have been for them to do ? We therefore merely re-elected the
Warden and Honorary Secretary, who were generally acceptable to
the great body, and I was elected Chairman of the congregation,
with power to convene future meetings. So the destinies of the
Ruhleben Hebrew Congregation were directed without a com-
mittee, and despite the most insidious arguments of my fellow-
members I refused to convene another general meeting, with
the result that for the next twelve months, down to the day of
my departure, peace reigned supreme in the bosom of our com-
munity.

Our midday dinner was brought to our stable regularly in tin

204 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

pails, hermetically sealed, by a motor-car from Berlin, which
was generally accompanied by a voluntary lady helper, who
served out the meat, and who showed considerable devotion and
self-sacrifice in her somewhat uncongenial duty. The vegetables
and soup were distributed by prisoners, and for several months
I wielded the soup-ladle and studied human nature as it filed
past with outstretched bowls and unfolded itself in varying
moods and contrasted temperaments, and I soon distinguished
between the Oliver Twists and the epicureans. A long history
could be written of our Kosher dinner and the innumerable
episodes connected therewith, but it would probably interest
only those who ate it and their families. For the world in general
it must suffice to summarize such chronicles. At first our dinner,
compared with the Camp dinner, was very good, as it always
included a morsel of meat, so that even a number of non-Jews
and several " Marannos " paid to partake of it. The military
authorities, however, soon forbade the Christians to seek consola-
tion in Jewish diet, although they permitted about twenty
Mohammedans to receive it. Then a recurrence of the epidemic
which had afflicted us in the Emigrants' Railway Station broke
out, and the explanation of the first outbreak seemed to us
untenable as the repetitions occurred not merely on Saturday
night but also in the middle of the week. Sometimes we thought
the evil lay in the meat, sometimes in the soup, sometimes in the
vegetables ; and on every morning after a ghastly midnight we
discussed with one another what parts of the dinner we had
respectively eaten in order to track the germ of our affliction.
As the blessing of a Kosher dinner so often involved the curse
of a tortured stomach, there were numerous defections from the
Kosher contingent, for many men preferred a trefah dinner to
a troubled night. The daily fluctuations in the number of those
who went to the Camp kitchen evoked angry protests from the
military authorities, who liked nothing so much as uniformity,
and also from our head-guard " Pumpernickel," who indulged
in unprintable abuse. At length the management of the soup
kitchen discovered the cause of the evil, which lay not in the
food but in the utensils in which it was conveyed, and as soon
as the necessary remedy was made we were able to eat our dinner
without any fear of developing into night-walkers. But although
our dinner was henceforth safe there was always an element of

BARRACK VI 205

uncertainty about the hour of its arrival, especially in the winter,
when the motor-car frequently broke down on the snow-clad
road, and either another car had to be requisitioned or a dozen
members of our barrack sallied forth under military escort to
fetch the pails. And hence the cry of " Auto da ! " (The taxi's
here) was always eagerly awaited, though often not heard until
after two instead of at half -past twelve.

With the advent of the second winter (1915-16) there was a
gradual decline in the quality of our food. The two compulsory
meatless days (Tuesday and Friday) slowly increased, as the
weeks advanced, to three, four, five, six, and even seven, and
by the time we celebrated the second Passover we had become
accustomed to complete vegetarianism, for about that period
we had no meat for six weeks and were fed on a monotonous diet
of starchy foods — potato soup, boiled potatoes, and rice — alter-
nating occasionally with fish, until our stomachs revolted. The
Sabbath fare was always the worst of the week, as, in order not
to imperil our stomachs, nothing hot was sent, but generally
an indigestible sausage, or the remnants of the previous
day's fish, or a diminutive herring, with brown bread : a menu
that reflected both the distress of the soup kitchen and the
general shortage in the country. The result was that the Sab-
bath, instead of being hallowed, was inevitably violated, as
private cooking became the order of the day, and Friday's
potatoes were generally saved up to be fried on Saturday. But
despite the sad degeneration of our Kosher dinner the Camp,
seeing the motor-car daily dashing to Barrack VI, persisted in
envying the steaks and mutton-chops which it fondly imagined
were our normal menu ; and in proportion as the dinner declined
our weekly subscription rose from one to four marks and more,
owing to the rise in food prices, and owing to the cost of the car's
daily journey slowly mounting from fifteen to twenty-five
marks.

That Kosher motor-car was probably at the bottom of the
Camp's delusion that Barrack VI was the spoiled darling of the
military authorities. Our position, however, was very much
different, for the least deviation from the rules was rigorously
punished in our case, when it was overlooked in the case of others.
There was a rule forbidding private trading, yet dozens of
prisoners engaged in it with impunity ; but if a poor Jew were

206 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

found selling sweets, or cigars, or clogs, or any other commodity,
there was a hue and cry and " seventy-two hours on black bread
and water in the cells " were meted out as his punishment.
" Immer Baracke Seeks ! " (Always Barrack Six !) was the refrain
of " Pumpernickel," who complained that his fellow-soldiers
taunted him with the iniquity of the barrack. But for us
"Immer Baracke Seeks! " had another meaning : we were always
the scapegoats.

We had been segregated, so we were told, in our own interest ;
but when it suited the authorities they ignored their own pro-
fessed principles. In the middle of June, 1915, ou/ loft was
cleared, and the Jews who had been herded there were quartered
in a new wooden barrack (XXII). But after they had made
themselves as comfortable as possible in their new home, by put-
ting up shelves, cupboards, curtains, etc., one fine day a batch
of German convalescent soldiers arrived at Ruhleben in order
to recuperate ! — and the only accommodation that could be
found for them was in the Jewish Barrack XXII. Again it was
a cry of " Juden heraus I " At one hour's notice all the Jewish
prisoners had to leave the barrack with all their belongings and
go in quest of shelter in other barracks, and the greetings with
which they were generally received made them realize the extra
agony of being a Jew in addition to being a prisoner of war.
Even those who remained in Barrack VI had an ample share
of petty persecution. As ours was the oldest stable our water-
pipe had a habit of bursting every three weeks, and it took three
days at least before the repair was done, as Germany's good
workmen are all at the front. The result was that we were com-
pelled to go to the nearest barrack with our basins and jugs to
fetch water for our morning toilet, but the abusive shouts with
which we were assailed by many of the inmates in that barrack
made us doubt whether cleanliness was next to godliness.

Barrack VI, in short, was a sort of byword in the Camp,
invariably uttered in a tone of contempt. On the only occasion
when I visited the Camp cinema palace — a modest establishment
— there appeared upon the screen the figure of a grey-bearded old
Jew gloating over a heap of coins (in the film of " The Shylock
of Cracow "), and at once somebody called out " Barrack Six ! "
— and a guffaw of laughter swept through the room. Our Camp
magazine, under its first editor (a disciple of the yellowest

BARRACK VI 207

•journalese) pandered to the sporadic Anti-Semitism, by printing
insipid jokes that were painful pin-pricks ; and it required a
ideal of argument and persuasion on my part to show the editor
the folly and injustice of his ways and make him seek other
'spheres of humour. On one occasion I was driven to make a
public protest against this Jew-baiting. It was in connection
with the agitation, in the summer of 1915, for a badge or medal
|to commemorate our captivity. As there were a number of local
associations, each of which wished a medal with a distinctive
design, and as the little South African association contained
several Jews, a malicious jester posted an anonymous notice in
different parts of the Camp, giving as the South African design,
" Facade of Barrack VI," and as motto, " Ich dien — if released."
The sting contained in those last words, that the Jewish prisoners
sought their release by volunteering for the German army, was
more than I could bear, and at the crowded meeting held on the
Sunday morning on which that notice was displayed I appeared
on the platform and lashed out against the Anti-Semitic coward
who skulked behind anonymity, challenging him to step up on
the platform and vindicate himself ; and the silence that
ensued, and the thunderous cheers that followed my defence
of the Jewish cause, showed me at least that the bulk of my
fellow-prisoners were opposed to the campaign of Jew-
baiting.

When I discussed with a Christian fellow-prisoner, a man of
University education, the cause of Anti-Semitism in the Camp,
his only explanation was that Barrack VI was generally regarded
as pro-German, owing to the number of undoubted pro-Germans
that it contained. But when I asked him what that number was
and what proportion he thought it bore to the total population
of the barrack, he admitted that he had not investigated the
matter. The ignorance of the Camp on this subject was un-
doubtedly a source of mischief, and was responsible for the
stepmotherly treatment of poor Jews by the Relief Committee
of prisoners. But the military authorities were largely to blame.
When in April, 1915, they ordered the segregation of the pro-
Germans in all other barracks, those in Barrack VI were allowed
to remain, as their removal — so the Acting Commandant said —
would interfere with the Kosher dinner arrangements ; but when
it was a case of shifting the Jews from Barrack XXII to make

208 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

room for the invalid German soldiers, and exposing them to
renewed hardships, the argument about the Kosher dinner was
forgotten. It was the " thoughtfulness " of the military authori-
ties that engendered the thoughtlessness of the Camp. For the
fact was that the authorities were so disappointed at the small
proportion of pro-Germans in our barrack, which was much
smaller than that in many other barracks, that they liked to
foster the fiction that Barrack VI was pro-German. And yet
there was not a single native of England or of a British colony
in our barrack who declared himself deutschgesinnt, whilst there
were several notorious cases of British-born Christians who
openly avowed their pro-German sympathies, and some of whom
(particularly among the Hoppegarten horse-trainers) procured
their liberation through their sons " volunteering " for the German
Army. Even when, in May, 1916, the official inquiry was insti-
tuted to ascertain what pro-Germans were willing to become
naturalized in Germany after the war, the Acting Commandant
could not conceal his astonishment at the very small number
in Barrack VI who, on family and business grounds, saw them-
selves compelled to evince a desire to become later the Kaiser's
subjects.

Segregated though we were, we nevertheless took our full
share in the public activities and burdens of the Camp, for
although our barrack had a good sprinkling of tailors, carpenters,
cigarette-makers, barbers, and miscellaneous business-men, we
also included a number of talented professional men. Our
barrack supplied several qualified teachers of languages and
science for the Camp School ; it provided the organizer of the
first Camp orchestra, who successfully produced Handel's Mes-
siah and Verdi's Requiem ; it contained some excellent violinists,
a popular actor, a versatile variety artist, and an ingenious scene-
painter ; it supplied an expert and honorary meat-inspector for
the Camp kitchen ; it furnished a competent librarian for the
Reference Library ; and it provided for several months a Chair-
man of the Literary and Debating Society, who organized the
Ruhleben Parliamentary By-Election. The Anti- Jewish preju-
dice that I have had to scourge was fortunately not general. It
was not harboured by the numerous academic section in the Camp,
and I received an attentive and sympathetic hearing when I read
(by request) chapters from my Jewish Life in Modern Times at

BARRACK VI 209

meetings of the Historical Circle and the Social Problems Circle.
But, unhappily, a great number of the Jewish prisoners were ex-
posed from the very first to spasmodic baiting. Anti-Semitism is
cruel enough to the Jew in freedom, who can shun it or shelter him-
self from it ; but in a prison camp, from which there is no escape,
it makes the Jew drink the cup of bitterness to the dregs.

14

CHAPTER XXII

THE OUTSIDE WORLD

The supply of German papers — Continental Times — Smuggled English papers
— J' Accuse — Letters from Germany — Economic distress — Visitors — Talks with
workmen and guards — Applications for furlough — Fear of English spies — The
dogged prisoner on leave — The Doctrine of Hate — Trucks with church-bells —
View of Spandau — Sky portents.

OUR isolation from the outside world constituted one of
our bitterest hardships, for our curiosity to know what
was going on in Germany and on the various fronts
increased from the moment when we were cut off from our main
sources of information. A few days after our internment no
newspapers of any kind were allowed to come into the Camp,
and at once the wildest rumours took their place ; but after a
brief interval the halfpenny midday paper, Berliner Zeitung am
Mittag, familiarly called by its initials " Beh-Tsett," was brought
in for sale daily by a poor little Kriegerfrau (soldier's wife) . This
skimpy sheet formed the sole official channel of our intelligence
of what was going on in the outside world down to April, 1915 ;
if any German newspapers were used as wrappers of articles in
parcels received from relatives or friends in the country they
were rigorously removed by the guards at the parcels-office
before the packages were handed to their recipients. But with
the emergence of the summer sun the hearts of the authorities
melted, and they permitted the daily sale of the Berliner Tageblatt
and the Vossische Zeitung, both of which have a morning and
an evening edition, as well as a Sunday issue of swollen propor-
tions. The two illustrated weeklies, the penny Berliner Illus-
trierte Zeitung and the threepenny Woche, were also allowed to
enter. The papers were regularly brought by the German woman
as far as the entrance-gate, where, under the eye of the sentry,
they were taken by our official newsvendor (Mr. Butcher), who

THE OUTSIDE WORLD 211

sold them at a little wooden shed near the entrance of Barrack XI,
on either side of which we lined up.

The Berlin dailies that we received publish, as a rule, not only
the official reports of the Central Powers, but also those of the
Allies, though the latter, when they record a conspicuous success,
are generally printed in an obscure corner. The TageUatt and
" Tante Voss ' always devote considerable space to political
affairs in England, and thus we were able to follow very closely
the developments that led to the introduction of compulsory
military service, and likewise the disturbances in Ireland.
Germany naturally rejoiced at the Irish rising, and the papers
devoted whole pages, with big bold headlines, to sensational
descriptions. In the early period of the war the Tageblatt pub-
lished a series of articles on conditions in England, by Dr. Hans
Vorst, which I subsequently learned were pretty accurate as
regards facts, and which were fairly temperate in tone ; whilst
the Amsterdam correspondent of the Vossische Zeitung (Dr.
Oskar T. Schweriner) appeared to waylay every " neutral "
traveller from England and squeeze miscellaneous bits of in-
formation from him, which he dished up into spicy articles.

But these were not the only German papers at our disposal,
for a great number of the men at Ruhleben, previously domiciled
in Germany, were in regular receipt of the local newspapers from
the towns in which they had lived, and thus we were able to
follow the conditions and opinions in Hamburg and Breslau, in
Cologne and Frankfort, in Munich and Leipzig. Occasionally the
Vorwdrts too came into our hands, and we found that the Reich-
stag reports in it were often much fuller than those in the " bour-
geois " papers, especially in the case of Socialist speeches disclosing
censorship caprices and military abuses. We were particularly
interested on one occasion to read a Socialist exposure of evils
at Ruhleben. That the Reichstag should have to listen to a
denunciation by one of its own members of our hardships was
somewhat comforting ; and there was even something hopeful
about it, as the heartless conduct of one of the subordinate
officers, who had the authority to grant leave and exercised it all
too sparingly, was mercilessly criticized. Through the same
medium we also learned that the Reichstag was informed that
Ruhleben prisoners of pro-German sympathies were pressed
into the service of the German army.

212 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Books, brochures, and maps were procurable through the
Camp bookseller (Mr. F. L, Musset) ; and on the walls of many
a horse-box or in the passage of the stables there were pasted
large maps of the various theatres of war, upon which the course
of operations was followed from day to day. Many men also
cut out of their papers the small maps illustrating particular
campaigns, and preserved them for future reference. As these
various publications had to be ordered through the Camp book-
seller and passed through the hands of the military authorities,
the latter were able to prevent the entry of any printed matter
that was considered dangerous.

We always took the German military reports, especially if
highly seasoned, with the proverbial grain of salt, as they so
seldom admitted losses and never included figures of casualties.
English newspapers were strictly banned, with the exception of
the pro-German Continental Times, edited by a British renegade
and published in Berlin, which was sometimes distributed
gratuitously in the Camp, with a view to undermining our
loyalty. But despite the military prohibition and the most
vigilant precautions we were able, nevertheless, to see at first
The Times, and then the Daily Telegraph, fairly regularly. That
these papers came into the Camp was not unknown to the military
authorities ; but how they came remained an impenetrable
mystery. One of the military officers, Rittmeister von Mutzen-
becher, was even sportsman enough to admire us for the skill
with which we circumvented the regulations. In the course of
a little speech, in June, 1915, in which he complimented the
actors in a performance of The Speckled Band, he dwelt upon the
ingenuity of Sherlock Holmes, and said : " I think this Sherlock
Holmes had better remain in the Camp until the end of the war.
He may be able to find out for us how The Times gets into the
Camp. At present we don't know, but we should very much
like to know."

The price paid for a single copy of the English paper by the
prisoner who acted as newsagent varied from five to ten marks,
owing to the risk involved in the traffic, but the agent always
made a handsome profit, as he lent the paper out, at one or two
marks an hour, to groups of fellow-prisoners. The borrower
seldom knew who the agent was ; a stranger brought him the
paper, and punctually, at the end of the allotted time, fetched

THE OUTSIDE WORLD 213

it away again. The efforts made by the authorities to solve the
mystery all failed lamentably. On one occasion soldiers were
sent to sneak up behind the men who sat reading papers on the
grand stand and see whether any of the papers were either
English or French. One zealous soldier made two captures and
marched his men with their papers to the military office, fully
expecting punishment for the prisoners and praise for himself.
But a moment's examination showed that one of the papers was
La Belgique, which appears in Brussels under German censor-
ship, whilst the other was the notorious Continental Times. On
the whole, however, there were few regular readers of an English
paper, as the luxury of a subscription was a little too costly for
a prison camp. It was thanks to the same ingenious mechanism,
that copies of the weekly Zukunft, in which Maximilian Harden
scarified his Government, made their way into our horse-boxes,
and likewise that I was able to read at my leisure that remark-
able exposure of Germany's guilt in causing the war, J' Accuse,
the perusal of which is prohibited in Germany on pain of fine and
imprisonment.

Apart from books and papers we also had various other
sources of information, such as letters, visits from friends, and
talks with prisoners who had been away on furlough, with our
guards, and with German workmen who came to do odd jobs in
the Camp. The careful censoring of all letters that came from
Germany, as well as of those that came from abroad, naturally
prevented us from learning any news of military significance ;
but it did not prevent us from realizing the hardships endured
by the German population in consequence of the food shortage.
When the wives of prisoners resident in Germany wrote that
they had a difficulty in getting butter, margarine, meat, eggs,
rice, sugar, soap, and other articles from time to time, we per-
ceived that the country was beginning to feel the effect of the
blockade. The letters received, whether legitimately or other-
wise, from writers in Germany invariably told the same tale of
distress — the difficulty of getting food and the desire for an early
peace. Many a prisoner contrived to smuggle food (especially
butter, rice, coffee, and corned beef) that he had received from
England to his hungry family in Berlin. I knew one young man
who used to grind wheaten biscuits into meal and send this to
his widowed mother who could get no flour. Early in the summer

214 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

of 1916 a prisoner received a note in a parcel from his wife in
Leipzig, informing him of food-riots that had occurred in the
city, and stating that one morning the facade of the Rathaus was
found smeared with jam and that the body of a dead cat was
hanging from a lamp-post, with the accompanying inscription :
" This is what will happen to the Burgomaster."

Permission for visits from male friends or relatives of German
nationality, or from German business connections or legal
advisers, was given but charily by the Berlin Kommandantur,
which carefully investigated each single application. The
interviews took place in the guard-room, within earshot of a
soldier, and the conversation had to be conducted in German
and confined strictly to business or personal matters, without
any allusion to Camp conditions. Each visitor, who was limited
to half an hour, was escorted from the gate to the guard-room
and back by a guard, and was not allowed to speak to any other
prisoner than the one named on his permit. The general tenor
of the reported remarks of all visitors during the last six months
of my internment was that the German people longed for peace
and believed that there would be no third winter campaign.
These views were corroborated by the wives and mothers who
were allowed to pay a monthly visit to their husbands and sons
from April 7, 1916 ; and they were confirmed both by the work-
men who came into the Camp to do jobs as plumbers, smiths, or
joiners, and by our guards. Both workmen and guards became
very communicative under the influence of a little English butter
or a piece of white bread, and spoke not in anger but in sadness
of the distress in the country. The workmen were all above
military age or mere boys of fifteen or sixteen ; whilst the
guards, although all of the Landsturm and manifestly unfit for
active service, went in dread lest they should be found fit to be
sent to the front. ' You Engldnder can shoot : that one must
admit," remarked a soldier who had been invalided back from
the western front.

Applications for furlough were all strictly investigated and
very grudgingly granted. The reasons for which leave was given
were generally to look after an ailing wife, to attend the funeral
of a blood relation, or to conduct some business that was con-
sidered of national importance. The official who had the
authority to deal with such applications, Lieutenant Riidiger,

THE OUTSIDE WORLD 215

often displayed a callous cruelty in rejecting them, which pro-
voked his denunciation in the Reichstag. On various occasions
during the early period of our internment prisoners, whose wives
had given birth to a child, appealed for permission to go and
see their new offspring, but were invariably refused. Once a
prisoner asked for leave to visit his father who was on his dying
bed. " He is only dying," was the brutal reply, " wait a day or
two, and you can attend the funeral ! " Before each case was
decided the applicant's personal records or Akten were studied
most minutely to see if there was a black, or rather red, mark
opposite his name, for at the Ruhleben Kommandantur there was
not only a card-index of all prisoners but also a voluminous
collection of portfolios, each of which contained a batch of docu-
ments relating to a particular prisoner. Nobody knew what was
contained in his portfolio, and happy was the prisoner who had
no Akten. A man might have written in a private letter that he
did not care how long the war would last, if only England won :
when that letter came into the hands of the censor, the iniquitous
passage would be transcribed and the copy added to the writer's
Akten, to be brought up in evidence against him when he applied
for a day's leave. Once a prisoner applied for a week's furlough
to visit his ailing mother who was living in a southern town ;
he was told to come again three days later, and when he re-
turned, the officer, taking an incriminating document from his
portfolio, declared : " Eight months ago you said to me here that
you would never draw the sword for Germany. Your applica-
tion is rejected."

Those who were given only a half-day's or a day's leave were
allowed out only under the escort of a soldier, who, if wearing
a helmet and carrying a gun, could not enter a restaurant with
his prisoner, but if wearing a forage cap could pass as though
on furlough himself. Such a soldier had in any case to be ex-
ceedingly careful not to violate any of the numerous regulations
by which his movements were hampered, as the military bureau-
cracy of Berlin has a thousand eyes. On one occasion a Camp
soldier who was in charge of a prisoner went with him into a
restaurant in the heart of Berlin to have some lunch, and began
to air the little English that he knew while jotting down notes
of purchases he intended making. They had scarce concluded
their meal when two men who had been quietly sitting at an

216 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

adjoining table and watching them, announced that they were
political detectives and must arrest the soldier and his companion
on suspicion of being English spies. The soldier's protests were
unavailing : he and his charge were taken to the Stadtvogtei
Prison and kept there for an hour until telephonic enquiries
made at the Kommandantur at Ruhleben established the absurdity
of the suspicion. The soldier and his prisoner were released, but
their little adventure had so frightened them that they returned
post-haste to the refuge of the Camp.

In the case of prisoners who received more than a day's fur-
lough the assent of the Kommandantur at Berlin had also to be
obtained. Such prisoners were allowed out on parole, but they
had to report themselves every morning at the local police
station, unless the Polizei-Leutnant agreed to less frequent calls.
The lot of such a prisoner was not a happy one, for he felt him-
self a hunted man. He had to be at home between eight in the
evening and seven in the morning, and he was liable to receive
a visit from a policeman or detective at any time of the night
to see if he were at home. A prisoner who was once given fur-
lough of this kind told me it was the most wretched time he had
spent since his internment. He was rung up one morning at
half-past one by a detective who wished to convince himself not
only that he was at home, but that his wife was also there, and
as the Englishman would not permit the detective to enter his
bedroom or his wife to leave it, the lady had to call out, " Ich bin
hier ! ' and the myrmidon was satisfied. That unfortunate
prisoner on leave had to report himself at the nearest police
station every morning before going to business. Whenever he
left his office for lunch he found a man in the street watching
him, and when he left the restaurant for a neighbouring cafe" to
read the papers he found that same man furtively observing him
from a near table. One day he went into Wertheim's large stores
to buy an atlas for his child, and as he was fingering some maps
in the book-department he turned round and saw that he was
again being watched by the same individual. He dropped the
atlas like a hot coal, for fear that he should be suspected of
espionage, and asked for a volume of Treitschke's speeches.
One midday, when he was sitting in his usual cafe, he noticed
that the spy was not there, but the waiter who served him
whispered : ' You are an Engldnder, not ? " The Englishman

THE OUTSIDE WORLD 217

looked up in astonishment. " I know," continued the waiter ;
" the gentleman who comes here has asked me to report if you
read an English paper, so I would recommend the Kolnische
Zeitung." The Englishman drank his coffee with a gulp, paid
with a liberal tip, and never returned to that haunted caf6.

Another fellow-prisoner furnished me with a remarkable
instance of the application of the doctrine of hate. His young
daughter, though born in Berlin, was expelled from a Berlin
school because she was a British subject ; whereupon he tried,
through a mutual friend, to invoke the services of a Berlin Uni-
versity professor to secure the reinstatement of the child. The
reply of the professor, one of the most eminent jurists in Germany,
was of the following tenor : " Even if I had the influence you
attribute to me, I would not use it for the purpose you desire.
Our children shall and must be brought up in a spirit of hatred
against England, and it is therefore not fitting that your child
should be in a German school." I read with my own eyes the
singular epistle of this apostle of Kultur.

In addition to the information we gleaned from fellow-prisoners
returned from their furlough, we also found that the Camp itself
provided no mean post of observation, for the Ruhleben Race-
course lies just opposite to the main line running from Berlin
to the west, and we were thus always able to see in what direction
the troops were travelling. If they went west in large numbers
we knew that another offensive was developing in that region ;
if eastward, we concluded that the Russians were becoming
troublesome again. We saw hundreds of trains daily, truck-
loads of ammunition, cannon of various sizes, boats for pontoon
bridges, and tremendous iron cylinders supposed to contain
asphyxiating gas. We also saw the Red Cross trains coming
back slowly from the west with their helpless burdens. The
most remarkable spectacle that we ever beheld (it was in May,
1916) was some trucks bearing immense church bells to the west,
doubtless to be melted down for their copper in some foundry.
The tallest of these bells appeared to be at least eight feet. By
a curious coincidence, the train stopped just when the trucks
with the church bells came opposite the main gate of the Camp,
and as the railway line is on a raised level we were able to look
and wonder. Along that same line were also regularly con-
veyed the trucks overflowing with the English tin boxes

218 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

collected in the Camp, in order to be used for ammunition
purposes.

We were within a mile of the garrison town of Spandau, and
from the race-course we could see the long array of tall, smoking
chimneys silhouetted against the sky, and depots with roofs
painted green to make an enemy airman think they were peaceful
meadows. It is there that munitions are manufactured in great
abundance without pause day and night, and the town is guarded
so carefully that the wives who visited their husbands at Ruhleben
were not allowed to approach it via the Spandau Station, but
had to make a detour. At various times in the day we saw
Zeppelins, balloons, and squadrons of aeroplanes ; we heard
troops in training lustily singing Die Wacht am Rhein as they
marched along the bank of the Spandau Canal ; and in the
evening, as we took our monotonous constitutional on the
parade or sat and mused on the grand stand, we saw fireballs
shot up into the heavens and restless searchlights that pierced
the clouds.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS

Medical examinations — In quest of notabilities — Exchange of seamen —
Tantalizing rumours — The question of proportion — Cruel disappointments —
Naturalization problems — Revival of hope — A day in Berlin — The twenty-one
cripples — Disappointed again.

THE optimism aroused by the release of a hundred
prisoners on November 6, and of a hundred and fifty on
December 6, 1915, did not last very long ; but whilst it
continued everybody who had, or thought he had, some con-
stitutional defect rendering him unfit for military service, fondly
reckoned upon his liberation taking place at least within a few
months. As there were already so many names on the list of
prospective exchanges the number of prisoners medically ex-
amined in December for this purpose was limited, but it was
large enough to contain many cases that could obviously not pass
the doctor. One sturdy, broad-shouldered man of forty, whose
only apparent defect was flat-footedness, was asked by the
doctor : " Was fehlt Ihnen ? " (What are you suffering from ?)
and upon his beginning to enumerate various maladies the
doctor tartly replied : "An Frechheit fehlt Ihnen nichts ! " (You
are not suffering from lack of impudence !) Several men, who did
not want to wait until they were included in their captain's
list for examination, wrote to their families or friends to intercede
with the Foreign Office or the American Embassy in Berlin.
The Ruhleben Kommandantur invariably complied with such
requests for separate examination, but in these cases the doctor
generally found the prisoners at least fit for garrison service.

By dint of experience we learned that the more external
influence was brought to bear in favour of a prisoner the less
service it rendered him. To be unknown and unimportant was
to have the best prospect of an early release ; for if any man

219

220 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

invoked influential advocacy through the Foreign Office on his
behalf, the German authorities always replied that they would
release him only in exchange for some — generally high-placed — |
German civilian prisoner in England, a proposal that, as a rule, !
was declined by the British Government. After the lapse of
the first twelve months the Ruhleben Kommandantur had a
pretty shrewd idea, thanks to the co-operation of the postal
censors, of the family connections and status of most o* the
prisoners, and those who belonged to more or less distinguished
families either in the social or political world were entered upon
a special list, for whose liberation some particular German was
demanded back in return. In their search for British notabilities
the authorities sometimes went to absurd lengths. One day
a prisoner named Campbell was summoned to the military
office, and was asked by Lieutenant Riidiger whether he did not
have another name. The man looked at him in surprise and gave
his Christian name. " No, I don't mean that," said the Lieu-
tenant. " Isn't your name Campbell-Bannerman ? " The
prisoner replied that he had not the honour and withdrew.

Criticism of the composition of the big batches that left at the
end of the year was rather loud, as about one-third consisted of
negroes, who formed only about a twentieth of our entire com-
munity, and the rest included a rather disquieting disproportion
of German-sounding names. But when in the latter half of
December, it was announced that all merchant seamen above
the age of fifty-five (provided they were not officers) and all
ships' boys below the age of seventeen would also be released,
a fillip was given to our confidence, and we rejoiced when the
old and young tars left together to spend the Christmas of 1915
at home. The list for the following 6th of January, however,
shrank to about seventy, half of whom were coloured men, and
our hopes sank correspondingly. A few weeks after my dis-
appointment in December I was told that I had no chance of
leaving in January, as only older and more ailing men would be
going, but that I could already begin to pack up for my departure
on February 6. This further postponement annoyed me, but
I soon became reconciled to waiting another month, although
my health was gradually becoming worse. Then a rumour
spread that the exchange of civilian prisoners had been stopped,
or suspended for a few months, and a panic was created among

THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS 221

::hose who had been waiting so impatiently the hour of their
■elease. But this rumour was immediately dispelled when one
lay Lieutenant Rudiger himself actually visited every barrack,
in front of which the prisoners were lined up in fours, and took
down the names of everybody who was over forty-five or who
appeared obviously unfit for military service. We were given
officially to understand that a large exchange was impending,
land we associated the hurried selection made by Lieutenant
iRudiger with the expected arrival in England of the steamship
Golconda, which was bearing home about 500 German and
Austrian missionaries and merchants with their families from
India. High hopes were based upon this speculation, but when
the 6th of February arrived and only eighteen left, the dis-
appointment was universal. I ceased to place my faith in Prus-
sian officers. The expected big exchange did not take place,
though the missionaries and merchants reached Germany safely,
and we wondered whether the Foreign Office had not missed an
excellent opportunity which the German Government had
apparently been anticipating.

Disheartened by this further set-back and by the dwindling
of the number released, I enquired why so few were allowed to go
when there were at least 120 who had already been certified as
militarily unfit, and when probably at least another five hundred
of the same category would be found if the medical examinations
that had stopped were continued. I was told that the German
Government was disappointed at the result of the exchange :
it had expected that the proportion of repatriated Germans
to repatriated Britons would be something equivalent to the
proportion of (26,000) German civilian prisoners in England to
(4000) British civilian prisoners in Germany. The latter propor-
tion, roughly, was about 6£ to 1, whereas the proportion of re-
leased prisoners was very much less. But when I pointed out
that the agreement made between the two countries contained
no stipulation about a particular ratio, but simply provided that
all civilian prisoners, irrespective of numbers, should be released,
I was told : " Oh, yes, as England has the advantage in numbers
it suits her to look at the matter in this way. But as she isn't
hurrying we won't hurry either until a more respectable propor-
tion has been reached." Another source of annoyance to the
German authorities was the character of their subjects whom

222 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

they were receiving back. " Den Auswurf der Menschheit haben
sie tins auf den Hals geschickt ! " (They have thrown the scum of
humanity upon our necks!) was the utterance I once heard from
a commanding officer in the Camp, an allusion to the felons,
pimps, and prostitutes whom England had shipped back to the
Fatherland. I refrained from the obvious retort as I did not want
to jeopardize still further my own slender prospect.

On March 6 the number of those released sank to nine, and the
hope that had hitherto sustained so many of us snapped asunder.
If only nine were to be released each month it would take another
year before the whole of the 120 still waiting were liberated. The
outlook was heart-breaking, and many of the middle-aged and
older men who had been looking forward to their liberty so
keenly since the previous September and October began to sink
into a state of disconsolate depression. Most of them had
already had their passports made out and had written the good
news home to England, but the only result was that as their
families expected their imminent return, they received no
parcels for several weeks until they wrote back again that their
departure was indefinitely postponed. Some of them had
actually seen their names on the posted lists, only to be struck
off at the eleventh hour ; one man's name was thus struck off
in two successive months. Another prisoner was stopped at the
gate on the very morning of his destined release and after his
luggage had already been sent on to the Dutch frontier : there
was some flaw or other in his papers, and he had to endure
another month's agony, whilst his luggage was sent back from
Flushing.

Then there were several men, who, although they had been
interned for over a year as British subjects, were refused British
passports by the American Embassy. These were all British
naturalized subjects who, in the view of the Embassy, had for-
feited their right to a British passport on account of their not
having fulfilled their undertaking to settle in the country in which
they were naturalized. There were many appeals against such
refusals, for to what nationality did these men belong ? The cases
were referred to the British Foreign Office, which, after searching
investigation, recommended that passports should be issued to
particular prisoners ; but the state of mind of these men awaiting
a decision about their nationality can easily be imagined. In

THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS 228

some cases the naturalization had been effected in a British
colony — Canada, South Africa, or Australia — and the protracted
correspondence that was entailed told heavily on the prisoners'
health. One naturalized British subject had to wait three months
before hearing that a passport would be issued to him, and, after
rejoicing that his release could not now be postponed, he was
informed that he had been found " not unfit for garrison service "
and would therefore remain. Moreover, there were one or two
instances of men who, although manifestly unfit for military
service of any kind, and medically certified as such, were cruelly
held back for the purpose of special exchange.

Whilst we were debating with one another the tantalizing
prospects, clouds began to gather over the political horizon which
made us fear the worst, that is, for the immediate future. For
several days the German papers published very disquieting re-
ports from Holland, and it almost seemed as though that country
too was going to be dragged into the war. How then could we
get to England ? " Through Denmark " — " through Switzer-
land," came the ready replies, and the problem was solved. But
then Germany's relations with the United States also became
very strained, and if things came to the worst, what would become
of all the passports made out by the United States Embassy ?
Surely they would become invalid, and then there would be
another long delay before fresh passports were made out. Verily,
the lot of a Ruhleben prisoner awaiting release was not a happy
one.

Amid all these disappointments, postponements, and specula-
tions my health grew worse from week to week, for a draughty
stable and a damp soil in the bitterness of winter in North
Germany are anything but congenial to chronic sciatica. My
appeals to the doctor merely procured me fresh consignments
of aspirin tablets : the business of release, he politely pointed out,
belonged to his colleague. And as the tablets failed to assuage
the pain with which I cried out in the night, to the distraction
of my box-mates, I one day plucked up courage and hobbled
with a stick to the military office to urge my case. Fortunately
there was no need for further appeal. I was told that my name
had been put down for release on April 6, and I merely heaved
a sigh of relief. I would not rejoice prematurely. But, striking
while the iron was hot, I asked if I could have a day's leave in

224 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Berlin to settle my affairs ; and a few days later this application
was granted.

After seventeen months of unbroken internment, diversified
only by a fortnight's imprisonment, I was able again to walk
about in Berlin like a free man. I had a military escort, of course,
but as he wore no helmet and carried no gun, he attracted no
particular attention, and nobody suspected that I was an English
prisoner. I was struck by the general quietness of the streets,
as compared with the bustle and crowds of former days ; by the
large number of soldiers in all uniforms ; by the women tram-
conductors, the post-women, and the female postillions ; by the
sad faces of the people, the poorly stocked windows of grocers
and bakers, and the many closed shops. In a little beer-restaurant,
as the proprietor was smearing butter on some bread, one of his
guests called out : " Be careful, you are putting it on too thick ! "
I saw a long line of women, children, and old men, four in a row,
and controlled by a policeman, outside a butter-shop, where, if
they were lucky, they would each get a quarter of a pound for
the week. I was further struck by the quietness of such streets
as Friedrich Strasse and Unter den Linden, and the rarity of
motor-cars ; but when I dined at Kempinski's I found that one
could still get a satisfying meal for about three marks (apart
from wine), though it was somewhat odd to be unable to get
any bread. The familiar types at the restaurant, big-bellied,
bald-headed men in black, with napkins stuck in their throats,
were not as numerous as in peace-times, nor was the noise as
loud. But the traffic on the tramcars seemed to be as busy
as ever, doubtless owing to the increased employment of women.
The streets in the evening were brilliantly illuminated, and the
cafes, where you could still get tolerable coffee (though with
little sugar) and delectable pastries, were as crowded and ani-
mated as before. But the people were all tired of the war. The
tone of boastfulness had vanished, and a longing for peace had
taken its place.

The 6th of April approached, and my heart beat faster at the
thought that within a few days I should have left the squalor
of Ruhleben for the familiar sights of London. On the 4th, at
midday, I received a typewritten slip, summoning me to the
Y.M.C.A. Hall, and concluded that I should there be informed
of the final formalities connected with my release. Twenty

THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS 225

fellow-prisoners were likewise there, all confident and happy,
and also the captains. Then the Commandant, Count von
Schwerin, accompanied by Baron von Taube, entered on a stick
and addressed us in a husky voice : " You are the twenty-one
prisoners who have been selected for exchange on the 6th. In
return for you we expected twenty-one Germans from England :
most of them are cripples, without an eye, or a leg, or a hand.
As they have not yet come you also cannot go, and you must
stop here until they do come. You have only your own Govern-
ment to thank for that. But as there are some of you who are
already over fifty-five, I shall take steps to secure their release
on the 6th, as I think it barbarous that they should be kept here
any longer."

On April 6th the nine men who were above the maximum age
were allowed to leave for England. The remaining twelve of us
were kept behind.

J 5

CHAPTER XXIV

THE SECOND SUMMER

Warm days again — Exodus of guards — Visits from mothers and wives —
Experts in child psychology — A wine-buffet — Sunday photographing — Camp
politics again — The missing buttons — Confinement to barracks — New cook-
house — A prisoner of the Moewe.

FOR the first few days I fondly cherished the hope that
the twenty-one cripples, for whom England was alleged
to have such a singular affection, would arrive by a later
boat at Flushing, and I haunted the Captains' Office and the
approach to the military office in hourly expectation of the
gladsome message. But the days passed without a sign or a
syllable of the coveted tidings. Then a rumour was spread —
Heaven knows by whom — that the twelve detained men would
leave on the 18th, and we hoped that this rumour would excep-
tionally prove true ; but the 18th passed as uneventfully as the
days before it, and we became resigned to our fate. Repeated
disappointment had hardened us and robbed us of the joy of
confident expectation.

Summer began early, for at the beginning of April we had
some delightfully warm days, which tempted us to bring our
deck-chairs out of the stables into the open again. From the
first of the month the bed-hour was again advanced to ten o'clock,
and three weeks later summer-time was introduced, so that we
were able to enjoy the full benefit of the daylight. All the
features of the previous summer gradually emerged. The
swallows returned to their nests in the eaves of the stables and
the roofs of the grand stands. Men shaved off the shaggy beards
they had grown in the winter for warmth, and walked about in
short breeches, bare-headed and bare-legged. The cricketers
succeeded the footballers on the sports ground ; lectures were
again delivered in the open, on the third grand stand, a course

226

THE SECOND SUMMER 227

on theosophy (by Mr. Reginald Ramm) attracting weekly
crowds ; and as soon as the weather became steady the promenade
concerts were also renewed.

The next two months were punctuated by a number of in-
teresting episodes, and as I made a mental note of each in turn
I almost felt reconciled to the postponement of my release. First
came the general exodus of the soldiers to quarters in the Emi-
grants' Railway Station. They had been housed in Barracks
XXII and XXIII and in the rooms below the third grand stand ;
and although no soldiers had been in charge of the prisoners'
barracks since the middle of September, 1915, the friendly inter-
course that was maintained, in the face of official prohibition,
between some of the prisoners and the guards was regarded by
the authorities as too serious a menace to military discipline.
The intercourse was not based on mutual affection, for the sol-
diers, who had all been withdrawn from their families and civil
occupations, chafed at the continued wearing of " field-grey."
They left the Camp with unconcealed regret, to which they often
gave expression through the barbed wire fence, beyond which
they patrolled. But although they no longer lived within the
Camp, a company of soldiers was always in attendance in the
guard-room, which had been extended by means of an annexe
at the back.

The oft-heralded visits from wives and mothers at length came
into force on Friday, April 7, 1916. The grievance of complete
separation from these relatives, especially in the case of prisoners
domiciled in Berlin, had often been brought to the attention of
the military authorities, and repeated petitions were sent in,
signed also by hundreds of prisoners not affected, to allow
periodical visits. But for more than a year the Kommandantur
was deaf to all entreaties, and prisoners adopted all sorts of
pathetic devices to catch a distant glimpse of their wives, with
whom they had a secret code of communication, and who stood
outside the walls of the Camp at some given spot, feigning to be
Sunday ramblers, but exchanging affectionate glances with their
captive husbands, until they were sternly driven away by the
sentries. At length the scandalous attitude of the Kommandantur
was exposed by a Socialist deputy in the Reichstag, and the War
Office promised amendment. On January 29, 1916, the American
Ambassador in London informed the Foreign Office of a com-

228 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

munication from the American Ambassador in Berlin, that an
order was issued by the Prussian Ministry of War on December
24, 1915, to permit British civilians interned at Ruhleben to
receive visits from their wives or mothers. 1 It was not until
three and a half months later that the order was carried out.

The visiting took place in Barrack XXIII, which had been
vacated by the soldiers, and which was furnished with a plain
long table and some benches. Applications had previously been
sent in both by the prisoners who wished to see their wives or
mothers, and by these relatives themselves, and a list was posted
up near the gate of twenty-five prisoners who would receive
visits from two to three o'clock, and of another twenty-five who
would receive visits from three to four o'clock. The women
gained access to the barrack direct from the country road,
without passing through the Camp, and the barrack itself was
separated from the neighbouring barracks by a barbed wire
fence. The visitors' barrack was fenced about and guarded as
though it were a paradise, and hundreds of prisoners struggled
with one another to catch a glimpse of the first fair visitors. A
fellow-prisoner, who was in the first batch, told me that the
meeting that took place between the wives and mothers with
their husbands and sons whom they had not seen for the past
seventeen months was the most touching spectacle he had ever
witnessed, rendered still more so by the needless callousness of
the officers. Many of the wives had brought their young children
with them, but were compelled to leave them outside the gate.
All the women had to sit on one side and the men on the opposite
side, with the table three feet wide between them, to prevent any
passing of notes ; and behind them, on either side, stood under-
officers with a knowledge of English. Count von Schwerin, ac-
companied by Baron von Taube, welcomed the visitors in a brief,
husky speech, in which he expressed regret that the children could
not be allowed to enter, "as," he said, "it would have a depress-
ing effect upon their youthful mind." According to this military
authority on child psychology, the keeping of the children back
at the gate, in the charge of a sentry, while their mothers dis-
appeared to visit their fathers whom they had not seen for seven-
teen months, would not have any depressing effect upon their
youthful mind. But the Count wished to be generous and

1 White Paper, Miscellaneous, No. 16 (1916), p. 47.

THE SECOND SUMMER 229

allowed the disappointed fathers to kiss their children through
the meshes of the wire fence. That, apparently, would also not
produce a depressing effect. Was there ever a more infantile
insight into the child mind shown by a hoary grandfather ?
On another occasion (in May, 1916) I saw a servant-girl arrive
at the main entrance-gate, with a parcel for a prisoner, and with
her was his little child. The prisoner asked the Baron for per-
mission to embrace his child, but was refused. The child was
taken away crying, and the father bit his lips with rage. From
the 7th of April every prisoner was allowed to receive one visit
a month from his wife or mother ; and relatives who wished to
come from cities other than Berlin had to receive the permission
of the local police as well as that of the Kommandantur. The
visiting days were Tuesdays and Fridays, and were so fixed,
as a wag suggested, to afford compensation for their being meat-
less days.

The authorities also made a pretence of generosity by per-
mitting the sale of some Rhine wine for one hour every after-
noon, but as the officer responsible for its introduction, Lieu-
tenant von Amelunxen, who was in charge of the finances of the
Kommandantur, was a wine-merchant in private life, it is possible
that this new measure was not inspired solely by altruistic
motives. At first the would-be wine-bibbers were expected to
take an abonnement for a week or month, but as this proposal fell
flat the wine-buffet, which was opened in a room below the third
grand stand, was accessible to all. The price of a quarter-litre
glass was forty pfennige (fivepence), and nobody was allowed to
have more than one glass. Many a prisoner, however, lined up
a second or a third time, until a soldier was posted to prevent
such plural drinking, but even the soldier could not prevent a
man getting a drink for a friend, and thus at times there were
cases of tipsiness. I heard that one of the main reasons why the
sale of wine was begun at Ruhleben, as well as in other prison
camps, was because the vintners of the Rhineland had millions
of bottles which they could not export to foreign countries, and
the ingenious alternative was adopted of dumping them upon
the foreign communities within Germany's borders. Another
apparent concession consisted in allowing a Berlin photographer
to take photographs of us in groups every Sunday morning ; but
as the operator charged handsomely (eighteenpence for a single

230 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

copy), and the military authorities levied a good commission
upon his receipts, the Kommandantur recouped in coin what it
appeared to sacrifice in rigour. Besides, a group photograph
invariably contains a smile or two, especially when the sitters
are teased by their friends looking on, and its arrival in England
would allay uneasiness. On the other hand, the authorities
became stricter in insisting upon two parades daily, at seven in
the morning and half an hour before bed-time, owing to the
successful escape of two prisoners at the end of April, and one
or two unsuccessful attempts that followed ; and as the accom-
modation of the few cells was not sufficient for the men who
turned up late at the morning parades, or who otherwise in-
curred the wrath of the authorities, the "bird-cage" already
described was established.

There were also two incidents that generated further friction
between the military authorities and the prisoners. One occurred
in connection with the election of a new captain in Barrack V,
in succession to Mr. L. G. Beaumont (for many months vice-
captain of the Camp), who had been released to England by
special exchange. The new captain, Mr. W. F. Mackenzie, who
was unanimously elected by his barrack and confirmed by the
authorities, refused to recognize Mr. J. Powell, Captain of the
Camp, as the elected representative to the outside world, that
is, to the United States Embassy. In consequence of this Mr.
Powell offered his resignation to the authorities, but they insisted
on his retaining office and simply " unbadged " the new captain.
As Barrack V, however, approved of the attitude of their dis-
missed head they refused to elect anybody else in his place and
remained captainless. The Captains' Committee was divided
on the question of principle involved, and a compromise was
arrived at by the election of Mr. J. P. Jones, the Camp treasurer,
as chairman of the Committee. On the other hand, Mr. J. C.
Masterman, Captain of Barrack X, resigned out of sympathy
with the dismissed captain, and was succeeded by Mr. M. S.
Prichard.

The other incident gave rise to a much more spectacular
demonstration. At the end of April a new officer, Rittmeister
von Glockel, came into the Camp, and was in command in the
absence of Count von Schwerin. He appeared to be a man of
about fifty-eight ; he had a thin, wiry, stooping figure, with a

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THE SECOND SUMMER 231

stern and soured visage, and a harsh voice. He had already been
in two prisoner-of-war camps before, and a reputation for
brutality preceded him. He had not been with us long before
he found an occasion for distinguishing himself. Early on the
morning of May ioth an under-officer employed in the military
cashier's office reported to the new Rittmeister that the two
rank-buttons had been removed from his cap. He specified no
charge against anybody, but the Rittmeister at once concluded
that the deed had been done by a prisoner and resolved to
punish the whole Camp. He summoned the captains in a body
to the Y.M.C.A. Hall, where he delivered a violent speech upon
the crime that had been perpetrated and upon what he described
as the general lack of discipline and order. He addressed them
with the pronoun Ihr that is used towards menials, and said :
" You have it too good here altogether. If I had my way I
would put some of you against the wall and shoot you ! " Upon
one of the captains attempting to say something in self-defence,
the irate Rittmeister rasped : " Halt's Maul ! " (Hold your
jaw!) — language that would be used by a brutal "non-com."
to a boorish private. The Rittmeister concluded by announcing
that, as a punishment for abstracting the two buttons — the
cause of which he did not even attempt to investigate — he would
impose forty-eight hours' confinement to barracks upon the
whole Camp.

At one o'clock the fire-bell was sounded, and upon our lining
up we were told by our captains to make all necessary purchases
at once at the canteens, as from two o'clock we should be con-
fined to our barracks for two days. No official explanation of
this measure was given to us by the captains, as they absolutely
denied the complicity of a prisoner in the heinous offence. The
sentence was rigorously carried out, as armed guards were sent
to patrol the interior of the Camp, in order to prevent us from
leaving our barracks. Those who wished to go to the latrines had
to obtain a special permit signed by their captain, which they had
to show to the sentries on the way. But at half-past four, as
though in response to some telepathic wave, every barrack
marched out for supper, four abreast, equipped with pots, cans,
and bowls, many of us singing " Are we downhearted ? " and
" Tipperary," and headed in each case by the captain. As the
Camp supper seldom attracted even one-third of the prisoners,

232 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

our turning out in full force and at the same time constituted
a demonstration, the significance of which did not escape the
intelligence of the Kommandantur . Not that we wanted the
supper. But by all of us passing through the kitchens and
demanding our due rations, the military larder was soon cleared
out and the authorities felt that we had got even with them.
On the following morning a military motor-car arrived with
several high functionaries from the Berlin War Office for the
purpose of enquiring into the dastardly deed of the removal of
the buttons. At the end of an hour they came to the conclusion
that our guilt was not proven, and they reduced the sentence —
for an offence they admitted we had not committed — to twenty-
four hours. Our mental state can well be imagined when we
were actually happy to be able to walk about again — behind a
barbed wire fence.

Our demeanour during our punishment had apparently made
an impression upon the Baron, for he shortly afterwards gave
his consent to the construction of a cook-house — at British
expense — for our benefit. The cook-house was sorely needed,
as the meals supplied at the kitchens had sadly degenerated.
The plans were drawn by a prisoner, Mr. R. Venables, and the
staff was afterwards recruited wholly from the Camp. The
supplies at the canteen had also diminished to an alarming
degree, and whenever a fresh consignment of sugar arrived,
about once in three weeks, long queues were formed radiating
in all directions. On the other hand, the good spirits that always
seemed to be uppermost found expression at a novel auction of
unclaimed property, which was conducted by a stentorian
policeman from a raised platform in the open air, within view of
the military office. A crowd of several hundred was gathered
round the auctioneer, who, in the course of three and a half
hours' operations, realized 900 marks, which was sent for the
benefit of needy British soldiers at the Doberitz Camp.

The 6th of May had passed, and only a few prisoners above
fifty-five were released, as apparently those mysterious German
cripples had not yet arrived. With the advent of June came the
glowing reports of a great German victory at the Battle of Jut-
land, and the German flag was hoisted to the top of the Camp
standard ; and as I discussed the event with a ship's captain I
was introduced to a recently arrived sailor, who had been cap-

THE SECOND SUMMER 233

tured by the notorious Moewe. He told me that he was on a
small British vessel, which was captured off the south-west coast
of Ireland by the Moewe, which was flying a Swedish flag. The
crew were taken prisoners, and the vessel was sunk. The Moewe
sailed in a northerly direction until they thought they were going
to the North Pole ; she passed Iceland, and then crept along the
Norwegian coast. At the south of Norway they were wrapped
in a fog, and the Moewe was almost on the point of firing at a
large vessel, when she discovered that it was German too. The
English prisoners were landed at Wilhelmshaven, and after
passing through the camps of Hamel and Holzminden, were sent
to Ruhleben.

CHAPTER XXV

MY RELEASE

The happy news — Packing up — A medley of messages — A restless night —
Leaving the Camp — Berlin butter-queues — Westward bound— ^A last farewell —
My fellow-passengers — The mysterious Boer — Our amiable guards — On the
frontier — Our first English welcome — The night at Flushing — Crossing the sea —
Home in London.

AFTER the numerous disappointments that I had under-
gone I came to the conclusion that I had been born
.under an unlucky star. I set my mind at rest by burying
myself in an Italian Conversation Grammar, with which I had
made the hours spin by in previous months, and every time a
fellow-prisoner asked me, " When are you going home ? ' I felt
inclined to retort with the rudest and ruddiest Ruhleben exple-
tives. As the 1st of June had come and gone, and nothing had
yet been heard of the departures for the 6th, I concluded that
I was doomed to spend at least another month as a guest of the
German Government.

On Sunday morning, June 4th, I met the Vice-Captain of the
Camp, Mr. P. F. Simon, and asked him whether he had yet
heard how many men were leaving on the 6th. " So far as I
know at present," he replied, " only two."

' Then those cripples haven't come yet," I observed.

At six o'clock the same evening, just as I was finishing my
humble " high tea " in my horse-box, and discussing with my
box-mates for about the five hundred and seventy-fifth time (for
we debated the subject at least once a day) how long the war
would last, our door was pushed open, and Mr. Simon, looking
in, asked if he could speak to me for a moment outside. He
seemed so excited that I feared that 1 had got into trouble
again in some unconscious way, and a vision of my last solitary
cell in the " Stadtvogtei " Prison flashed across my brain.

234

MY RELEASE 235

" What's the matter ? " I anxiously enquired.

" You are going on the sixth," he replied. " I congratulate
you."

For the moment I felt dazed. " Is it really true ? " I asked.

" This time it really is true. Come and see Mr. Powell."

We met the Captain of the Camp a few yards away, and he
confirmed the news. Fourteen of those anxiously awaited
cripples had at last arrived, and an equal number of Ruhleben
captives would now be released. The Berlin Kommandantur had
just telephoned that the War Office and the General Staff had
agreed to the arrangement, and the passports would be ready
to be fetched away the following day. My luggage was to be
brought in front of the guard-room at four o'clock the following
afternoon for inspection and dispatch, and I could at once begin
all preparations for my departure.

From that moment until, some thirty-six hours later, the
Camp gate closed upon me for the last time, I did not have a
single peaceful minute. The news of my impending departure,
as well as that of the other lucky men, spread like wildfire, for
at Ruhleben news always travelled with the rapidity of the
swiftest aeroplane ; and although I deprecated premature con-
gratulations, in the light of my past experiences, there was a
general feeling that this time there would be no further hitch,
and I was accordingly overwhelmed with messages for home.
Now there was a strict regulation that forbade released prisoners
to take with them any written messages of any kind, or even a
mere name and address, so I advised my friends to reserve their
communications until the following day, in order that they
might be fresher in my memory after leaving the German frontier.

Then I began to pack up, and I had little realized what the
task meant, for it involved the winnowing of stacks of accumu-
lated correspondence, and the distribution of cast-off clothing,
books, food-stores, domestic utensils, and all sorts of miscel-
laneous impedimenta. I was up betimes on Monday morning
and got ready for the censor all papers and letters that I wanted
to have sent to England, but during the process of sorting I was
interrupted every five minutes by a man who wanted to have
just a word, until I posted my coloured servant (who had first
acted as a sandwich-man for me in the election week) at the
door, with the instruction that I could not receive any visitors

236 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

until after four o'clock. But I no sooner stepped out of the
barrack, or even into the stable-passage, than I was waylaid by
men, who had a dozen different messages to be conveyed to a
dozen different addresses. At length, after repeated interrup-
tions, I got my trunk ready, and as I carried it with the aid of
my faithful servitor across the compound and passed through
the long queues in " Bond Street " I was greeted with such cries
as : " Won't you take me inside ? " — " Mind you don't come
back ! " — " Vote for Cohen ! " — " Give my love to the missus ! "
— " How much for your release-Schein ? "

In front of the Wache (guard-room) we all deposited our
luggage, and a military officer made a slow and thorough inspec-
tion of all the contents of every box, bag, and trunk. He felt
in every pocket of our coats, waistcoats, and trousers ; he ex-
amined every shirt and collar as though they might be inscribed
with some secret communication of high military value. My
boots were wrapped up in brown paper. What, paper ! How
dare paper be put into the trunk ? Heaven knows what moment-
ous message might be written on it with invisible ink ! Out with
the suspicious paper ! — which a gust of wind blew into the face
of a pot-bellied soldier about to salute the Baron. Upon my
trunk was pasted my London address, and likewise a number
in red, of which I was given a counterfeit. The carriage of my
trunk to the Zoologischer Garten Station in Berlin was estimated
to cost five marks, and a third-class ticket to the Dutch frontier
cost twenty-seven marks. I paid the money, but received no
ticket. That was Prussian caution : for I might be tempted to
give the ticket to another man who would escape. Wasn't that
likely after I had been interned for nineteen months ?

The rest of the day was one bewildering round of interviews
with fellow-prisoners anxious to send an immediate message to
their families. One man wanted me to call on his wife at Clap-
ham and assure her that he was quite well ; a second, to call on
his mother at Harrow and remind her about those thick stock-
ings ; a third, to write to his brother at Cardiff to send him some
" John Cotton " tobacco, medium ; a fourth, to telephone to
his aunt at Brixton to send him a pair of brown summer shoes,
size nine, and to be careful that the jam didn't spill ; a fifth, to
wire to his sweetheart at Liverpool to send him at once some
butter, marmalade, condensed milk, and two steak-and-kidney

MY RELEASE 237

puddings ; a sixth, to gather some material about trade unions
in South Africa, and send it him as soon as possible ; a seventh,
to make enquiries about his daughter in Bloomsbury, from whom
! he hadn't heard for five months ; an eighth, to let him know " in
[ some way or other " what really was the truth about the Jutland
Battle ; a ninth, to beg his father-in-law in Birmingham to re-
sume the interrupted remittances ; a tenth, to tell his brother-in-
law in Salford that it was useless sending any more brandy in
medicine bottles, as it was always confiscated ; an eleventh, to
call at the Foreign Office and explain that as he had been natural-
ized twenty-nine years ago and lived in Germany only fifteen
weeks before the war, there was really no reason why he should
not be given a passport ; a twelfth, to discover his uncle, John
Jones, who was a personal friend of the principal assistant-
postmaster at Tonypandy, and ask him to send a parcel at least
once a fortnight ; and a thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, up to
a ninety-ninth, all of whom impressed upon me the full name
(sometimes with two or three Christian names) of their respective
relatives, with their respective addresses, ranging in street num-
bers from i to 379B, and including such floral house-names as
" Chrysanthemum Cottage," " The Hawthorns," and " Sun-
flower Villa." By the time the policeman's whistle signalled us
to bed my brain was awhirl with the medley of names, addresses
and messages that I had all to retain in my memory, and my
arm was limp with the shaking of countless hands.

I spent a restless night, my brain racked by a wild phantas-
magoria of the Salford brother-in-law eloping with the Blooms-
bury daughter and dining on the steak-and-kidney puddings,
size nine, captured by John Jones in the Battle of Jutland, after
which the Cardiff brother-in-law deserted the Liverpool sweet-
heart and fled to Johannesburg to start a trade union strike.

" It's five o'clock, sir," said my faithful " blackie."

I rose with alacrity from my restless bed. The day of my
release had dawned. A steady drizzle was falling, but for me
the sky shone with dazzling splendour.

At six o'clock I was in the Captains' Office, breakfastless, but
without hunger, and within a few minutes all the others to be
released were likewise present. Mr. Powell, holding the batch
of passports, read out our names in turn, and then impressed
upon us not to carry on our person any printed or written matter

238 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

of any kind, on pain of being sent back at the frontier, and also
not to take any German gold (which none of us had seen since
our internment) or any more German silver than we needed for
incidental expenses on the journey ; for the difference we could
get German notes.

At length we were ready for the departure. A large gathering
of our box-mates and friends had come out in their overcoats
to give us a send-off, and as the Camp gate clicked behind us
for the last time I caught a glimpse of some men on a barrack-
staircase shouting " Hooray ! " We were accompanied by two
armed guards, one of whom jocularly called out : " Zum IcLztcn
Mai ! Zu vieren antretcn ! " (For the last time ! Line up in fours !)
We stepped out briskly along the country road, as happy as
children off for a holiday.

We walked as far as the tram terminus and there boarded
a car, which took us to the Zoologischer Garten Station. The con-
ductor was a woman, the driver was also a woman, and the
passengers were either women, children, and old men, or young
and middle-aged men in uniform. There was a look of sad-
ness on nearly every face, especially on that of the women
in mourning ; and although it was only half-past six the little
girls with their Gretchen plaits and their bare-legged brothers in
different coloured caps, were already, pale-checked and sleepy-
eyed, on their way to school. As the car sped along through the
main thoroughfare we saw long lines of women, old men, and
children, stationed in front of butter-shops ; they were four in
a row, under the eye of a policeman, some of them sitting on
stools, and knitting socks or reading, and all waiting patiently
until the shops would open two hours later, when, if they rcachc-l
the counter soon enough, they could buy four ounces of butter
for the week on presentation of their butter-card.

We arrived at the Zoologischer Garten Station early enough
to have breakfast in the refreshment-room, but all we could
obtain there was coffee : there were no rolls and butter for sale.
Fortunately we had provided ourselves with sandwiches, and one
of our party had a good supply of cake in honour of his birthday,
which he was celebrating that day. Our tickets were bought
by Mr. Powell, who appeared on the platform with Lieutenant
Rudiger to see us off. A large number of passengers, including
some Englishwomen, boarded the westward-bound train, which

MY RELEASE 239

[eft shortly after eight o'clock, and we were accommodated in
r .wo reserved compartments. Our two guards, who travelled
.vith us, placed their guns and helmets on the rack and made
hemselves quite amiable, whilst our entire party was in the
;harge of " Feldwebel " Benthin (familiarly styled by us " Ben-
sine "), who carried all our passports in a large envelope, which
le always held conspicuously in his right hand.

Within ten minutes after our journey began we approached
he Ruhleben Race-course. We all crowded to the window to gaze
'or the last time upon the scene of our captivity, and as we waved
>ur handkerchiefs in the breeze a loud, lusty shout came from
i crowd of prisoners who were on the watch. Farewell, Ruhle-
>en !

Our party comprised altogether fifteen men ; the unexpected
ifteenth was a mysterious man whom I shall presently describe.
Dne of my fellow-travellers was Mr. Alexander Boss, a rival in
he Parliamentary By-Election, and it seemed a stroke of irony
hat whilst the two defeated candidates were released the victor
vas detained to be teased on account of his unfulfilled pledge.
Vnother happy traveller was a man who had passed through
.11 the horrors of Wittenberg ; another had lain sick for months
n the hospital ; and another was the light-headed Belgian whom
ve had christened the " French Ambassador," and who had
oluntarily made his home in one of the punishment cells after
he establishment of the " bird-cage " had rendered these un-
lecessary.

The mysterious member of our party was a man upon whom
lone of us had set eyes in the Camp until eight days before. He
ad aroused general suspicion among our fellow-prisoners from
he moment he brought his luggage for inspection in front of the
uard-room, for he was a comparative stranger in our midst,
nd it was unusual for any man to be released to England who
ad not been interned for several months in Ruhleben. He was

middle-aged man of spare build, with a closely-cut, grey-tinted
card, and dark, shifty eyes, and he spoke in a somewhat jerky
oice. He was a Boer by nationality, and told us that he had
ved in Germany for the last ten years. At the outbreak of war
e was dwelling in Potsdam, " thanks to the patronage of an
fficial who was always talking of Court functions," and he was
aus not arrested until August, 1915, when he was placed in the

240 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Moabit Prison in Berlin. There he became ill and spent most
of his time in the prison hospital, until he was recommended for
repatriation. We did not quite know what to make of our
mysterious fellow-traveller, as we had heard that the German
authorities might spy upon our movements and conversation
right down to our arrival at the frontier ; and as several of us
had been forewarned against this Boer we were also forearmed.
We tried to engage him in conversation from time to time, and
once I bluntly asked him :

" Do you intend going back to South Africa ? "

He hesitated a moment, jerked out " Yes," and dropped his
eyes on to the newspaper before him.

We whiled away the journey by studying the country scenes
through which we passed. The crops, especially the rye, seemed
to be very good ; and one of our guards, who lived close to the
Dutch frontier, told us that the potato harvest was expected to
be favourable. We noticed some groups of Russian and French
prisoners of war working in the fields, and old men, women, and
children were also helping in the labour. Every bridge was
guarded by two sentries, and troops were being shifted to the
West.

There was a restaurant-car attached to the train, which we were
not permitted to enter. We were served, however, in our com-
partments with the available dishes ; and as it was a meatless
day (Tuesday) we had our choice between scrambled eggs and
boiled plaice, either of which cost the rather moderate sum oi
1.25 mark (about a shilling and threepence). At Hanover we
changed, and one of our guards, who lived in the neighbourhood
and was on furlough, took friendly leave of us. In the station
we were struck by the sight of a long train, which bore the
prominent brass lettering : " Berlin — Lille."

Nothing eventful occurred until we reached the frontier at
Goch, at about six o'clock. There we had all to alight and enter
the customs office for a final examination. Our luggage, which
had already been inspected in the Camp, and which we had had
no means of tampering with, was subjected to a further thorough
search. Then we were personally examined by a number of
officials. We emptied all the contents of our pockets on to a
bench, and each article was closely scrutinized. Then our
pockets were searched ; our coat collars and lapels were felt, the

MY RELEASE 241

ing of our hats was turned inside out, and our ties were un-
one, to see if any of them contained a hidden message ; and a
few of our party had also to divest themselves of socks and boots,
est some secret report might be nestling in them. The search
brought nothing to light, for we were all super-cautious. The
chief customs officer questioned us all about our occupations,
and entered into a rather lengthy conversation with the Boer.
At last, we were each given our passports, and as we passed out
of the office the Boer handed a post-card to an official to post
All the rest of us preferred to wait until we had quitted Germany
before writing any message. Then we entered the Dutch train
that was patiently waiting, and as it steamed out of the station
we caught our last glimpse of a Ruhleben officer, old " Benzine,"
who stood mute and stolid.

At last we were in Holland. At last we were free, and the
feeling of unspoken uneasiness that had oppressed us throughout
the journey — for we did not know what might happen at the
frontier — vanished as at the wave of a magician's wand. Now
we could say, write, do, eat and drink whatever we pleased, and
we shook one another heartily by the hand. But what had
become of the Boer ? He had sat in our compartment until we
leached the frontier ; now he had betaken himself alone to
another compartment.

At Boxtel some English ladies of the Society of Friends boarded
our train and gave us the first English welcome. It consisted of
a typical English tea — fresh white bread and butter that melted
in our mouths, sandwiches, cake, and deliciously fragrant tea.
We thanked our hostesses by relating stories of our experiences.
Then we sent telegrams with the tidings of our liberty to England,
and on returning to my compartment I jotted down on a sheet
of paper all the names, addresses, and messages that I could
remember of those entrusted to me the previous day.

Along part of our journey from the frontier we had the com-
pany of some Dutch labourers who went into Germany every
morning to work, and who also engaged in the regular smuggling
of food-stuffs, especially butter, bacon, and cheese, into that
country. One of the men showed me his well-thumbed local
passport, which was stamped every day, and told me that Dutch
food fetched a very good price across the border. I noticed that
the bridges in Holland too were guarded, and that a couple of
16

242 THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

sentries were posted in every railway station, for the country
was in a state of mobilization. Nothing eventful happened during
the rest of our train journey, except a visit at Rozendaal from
the correspondent of The Times.

We reached Flushing about eleven o'clock, and repaired to the
station restaurant for supper. The Boer seated himself at a
separate table and immediately became busy writing. A Dutch-
man who was present said that he had just heard of the death of
Lord Kitchener. We looked at one another incredulously : was
that a Ruhleben rumour ? One by one we went into the office
of the British Consul for the endorsement of our passports, and
we all received the visa with the exception of the ' French
Ambassador," who wished to join his brother in Holland, our
mysterious Boer, and another ex-prisoner of German name. We
showed our passports to a couple of youthful sentries, who could
not have possibly read them in the dim light, and then went on
board the Dutch mail-steamer to sleep. Among the passengers
were a large number of young Belgian recruits, who were in high
spirits.

At seven o'clock the following morning (June 7) the vessel set

sail. It ploughed its uneventful way steadily across the North

Sea, on which we espied many a British man-o'-war guarding the

' German Ocean." As we approached the Thames we took up

a pilot, who confirmed the sad news of Lord Kitchener's death.

We reached Gravesend at half-past six and found an attractive
tea-table awaiting us on the platform, to which we did full justice.
One of our party had to be carried on a stretcher by members of
the Red Cross. At the other end of the platform, beyond a
barrier, stood a group of people, ex-prisoners from Ruhleben
and newspaper correspondents ; but we could not approach them
until we passed the examination of the Aliens' Immigration
Board, composed of representatives of various Government
departments.

At length, after all formalities were discharged and more
telegrams were dispatched, we joined our friends and took the
train to Victoria, discussing a thousand topics on the short
journey. Soon I was plunged into the turmoil of the tumultuous
station and hailed a taxi.

' Sorry, sir," said the driver, when he heard my destination,
" ain't got enough petrol."

MY RELEASE 243

" What ? " I exclaimed. " I've come all the way from Germany
alter nineteen months' imprisonment, and you won't take me
home ?

" Beg pardon, sir, that's different," was the reply. ' Step
inside, sir. I guess as 'ow you're rather 'appy to be back, sir,"

" I'm sure 1 am," was my response.

APPENDIX

OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE ON RUHLEBEN AFFAIRS

The following is a chronological list of White Papers issued, under
the general heading of " Miscellaneous," on various questions relating
to the welfare of the British civilian prisoners interned in Germany
and of German prisoners in the United Kingdom : —

No. 5 (1915). — Correspondence between His Majesty's Government
and the United States Ambassadors respecting the Treatment of
German Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians in the United King-
dom, March, 1915. [Cd. 7815.]

No. 7 (1915). — Correspondence between His Majesty's Government
and the United States Ambassador respecting the Treatment of
Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians in the United Kingdom and
Germany respectively, April, 1915. [Cd. 7817.]

No. 8 (1915). — Correspondence between His Majesty's Government
and the United States Ambassador respecting the Release of Interned
Civilians ; and the Exchange of Diplomatic and Consular Officers,
and of certain classes of Naval and Military Officers, Prisoners of
War ; in the United Kingdom and Germany respectively, April, 1915.
[Cd. 7857.]

No. 11 (1915). — Reports of United States Officials on the Treatment
of British Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians at certain places of
detention in Germany, May, 1915. [Cd. 7861.]

No. 13 (1915). — Note from the United States Ambassador trans-
mitting a Report, dated June 8, 1915, on the Conditions at present
existing in the Internment Camp at Ruhleben, June, 1915. [Cd. 7863.]

No. 14 (1915). — Correspondence with the United States Ambassador
respecting the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and Interned
Civilians in Germany, June, 1915. [Cd. 7959.]

No. 15 (1915). — Further Correspondence with the United States
Ambassador respecting the Treatment of British Prisoners of War
and Interned Civilians in^Germany, July, 1915. [Cd. 7961.]

244

APPENDIX 245

No. 19 (1915). — Correspondence with the United States Ambassa-
dor respecting the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and Interned
Civilians in Germany, December, 1915. [Cd. 8108.]

No. 3 (1916). — Correspondence with the United States Ambassador
respecting the Conditions in the Internment Camp at Ruhleben,
January, 1916. [Cd. 8161.]

No. 16 (1916). — Further Correspondence with the United States
Ambassador respecting the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and
Interned Civilians in Germany, May, 1916. [Cd. 8235.]

No. 18 (1916). — Report by Dr. A. E. Taylor on the Conditions of
Diet and Nutrition in the Internment Camp at Ruhleben, received
through the United States Ambassador, June, 1916. [Cd. 8259.]

No. 21 (1916). — Further Correspondence respecting the Conditions
of Diet and Nutrition in the Internment Camp at Ruhleben, July, 1916.
[Cd. 8262.]

No. 25 (1916). — Further Correspondence respecting the Conditions
of Diet and Nutrition in the Internment Camp at Ruhleben and the
proposed Release of Interned Civilians, July, 1916. [Cd. 8296.]

No. 26 (1916). — Further Correspondence with the United States
Ambassador respecting the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and
Interned Civilians in Germany, August, 1916. [Cd. 8297.]

No. 35 (1916).— Further Correspondence respecting the proposed
Release of Civilians interned in the British and German Empires,
November, 1916. [Cd. 8352.]

No. 1 (1917). — Further Correspondence respecting the proposed
Release of Civilians interned in the British and German Empires,
January, 1917. [Cd. 8437.]

INDEX

Acting, 1 66

Adler, F. Charles, 77, 159, 160

Administration, 51-59

Aerschot, outrage at, 99

American Ambassador visits Camp,
50, 85, 124 ; prisoners' relations
with, 54-55 ; condemns barrack-
loft as uninhabitable, 123, 150 ;
views on recreation-room, 127 ;
disburses Relief Fund, 152, 186 ;
visits Camp theatre, 164

American Church, Reading Room of,
20

American Embassy, as rendezvous of
Englishmen, 19 ; opinion about
internment, 22 ; visited by Camp
Captain, 55 ; disburses British
funds, 64, 68, 69, 186 ; supplies
clothing, 73 ; and American prisoner,
97 ; presumed representative of,
100 ; makes representations for
suppression of mosquitoes, 120 ;
makes representations for addi-
tional barracks, 122 ; consulted on
medal question, 129 ; supplies
passports, 174

Anti-Semitism, 206—209

Appells, 80

Armstrong, Captain Heaton, 41

Artists, 156, 167-168

Arts and Science Union, 78, 147, 202

Assassination of Austrian heir-ap-
parent, 1

Athletic sports, 137

Auction, 232

Australia, prisoners from, 113, 129

Austro-Serbian War, 2

Auswanderer Bahnhof, 28. See also
Emigrants' Railway Station

Bainton, E. L., 152, 159, 160

Balkan Peace Conference, t

Bank Holiday, 130, 136

Barracks, number and condition of,
52 ; officials of. 61 : wooden bar-
racks, 82, 122-124

Baseball, 139

Baths, 77, 124

Bavaria, 108, 114

Bedding conditions, 30, 42, 49, 125

Bed-time, 31, 120, 169, 199-220, 226

Beer, 182

Beetles in soup, 80

Belgians, as prisoners at Stadtvogtei,

9- 94- 97-99
Belgium, Englishmen arrested in, 83,

"3. 175

Berlin, scenes before internment, 15-
22 ; visits to, 215, 224

Berne, bread from, 66

Betting, 192

Bill-posting station, 74

" Bird-cage," 59, 230

Black Forest, 35

Blockade, British, 17

Bloomer, Steve, 134, 135

" Bloody " episode, 81

Board of Education, 153

Board of Trade, 152

Boer giant, 95, 116

Boiler-house, 125

Bond Street, 67, 79, 117, 125, 144

Bookseller, 212

Boss, Alexander, 87, 141, 143-146, 239

Boxing, 139

Boys, as prisoners, 123

Bread, scarcity of, 63, 85, 170, 179 ;
condition and supply of, 66, 180

" Breakfast," 32

Bremen, prisoners from, 36

British Consulate, in Berlin, 3 ; Eng-
lishmen arrested at, 10

British Relief Fund, offices raided by
police, 19

Brutality to Englishmen, instances of,

27. 3*. 57
Burns Nicht. 86
Butchart, C. S., 55, 138
Butter, 67

Butterworth, Walter, 142
By-Election, 140-146

Cafes, 17, 91

Camp Fund, 125, 148, 181

Camp Message Service, 126

Camps (other than Ruhleben), 36, 50,

82-S3, 175, 233
Canteens, 67-68/ 125, 182, 232

146

INDEX

247

Captain of Camp, 53, 131, 230, 235
Captains, 38, 53, 60-61, 170-171, 230,

23 1

Captains' office, 53, 173, 226, 237

Card-index (of prisoners), 215

Card-playing, 128, 196

Carpenters, 125

Casement, Roger, 87

Cashier, 38, 61

Casino, 37, 112, 181-182

Castang, Reuben, 87, 142-146, 166

Catholics, 195

Celle Camp, 82-83

Cells, for punishment, 56 ; at Stadt-
vogtei, 95

Censorship of correspondence, 62, 82,
213

Charlottenburg, 28, 91, 123

Chemistry, study of, 151

Chess, 77, 78

Choir (Church), 195

Christmas, 78-79, 154, 164, 167, 176

Church of England, 194-195

Church bells, 217

Cinderella pantomime, 11S, 163-164

Cinema, 69, 128, 192, 206

" Circles," 153

Cleaning arrangements, 63, 65, 73

Clothing for needy prisoners, 73

Clubs, 127

Cold, protection against, 73

Colney Hatch, 194

Colonial subjects, internment of , 84, 113

Coloured prisoners, 115

Commandant, 33, 51, 85

Commandant, Acting, 29, 37, 109, 170,
207

Committees for Camp affairs, 60, 69

Compensation for internment, 108, 192

Concerts, 44, 77-78, 120, 131, 159-160,
176, 227

Continental Times, 19, 212, 213

Contraband in parcels, 70

Convalescent barracks, 122, 184

Cooking arrangements, 182 ; cook-
house, 232

" Corner House," 127, 146

Correspondence, 33, 61-62

Cricket, 135-136

Croquet, 139

Crosland, G. L., 162

Crown Prince, German. 39

Deaths, 188, 199
Debating Society, 69, 154, 200
Delmer, Prof. F. S., 81, 154, 183
Dentists, 186-187
Detention barracks, 58-59
Deutschfreundlich, deutschgesinvt, 104,
208

Diarrhoea, 45, 66, 80
Dietary conditions, 178-182
Discipline, 56-59, 82
Doberitz Camp, 6, 106, 232
Doctors, 172, 1S3-184
Don't Laugh, 145, 163-164
Dramatic societies, 69, 127, 160, 165
Dresden, agitation for internment in,

22 ; prisoners from, 35
Drunkenness, 192
Duncan- Jones, C, 160

Eden, Sir Timothy, Bart., 166
Education, committee for, 69, 152
Educational activity, 128, 147-153
Emigrants' Railway Station, 28, 37,

40, 77, 120, 122, 185, 199, 204
Empire Day, 137, 154
Engineering, study of, 151
Entertainments, 69, 86-87, I2 ^, 167
Escapes, 58, 89, 123, 193
Essen, 35

Examinations (educational), 153
" Exchange and Mart," 116
Exchange of prisoners, 172—175,219—

223, 225 ; question of proportion,

221
Exercise, 75

Exhibitions of art, 167, 168
Eye complaints, 187

Falkenstein, Lieut, von, 39

Fashions, 74, 119

Fatigue parties, 68

Fence, barbed wire, 82

Ferrets, 122

Finance, questions of, 68-69

Fire-bell, 80, 231

Firemen, 61, 64

Fishermen as prisoners, S3, 114

Flagstaff incident, 81-82

Fleet Street, 117

Flies, plague of, 120

Flower-beds, 128

Flushing, 242

Food conditions, 178-182

Food, shortage in Germany, 182, 213,

238
Football, 75, 132-135
Foreign Office, 219, 220, 221, 227,

237
Frankfort-on-the-Main, 37, 107

French Dramatic Society, 165

Frenchmen, prisoners at Stadtvogtei,

9-10 ; removed from Ruhleben, 83 ;

prisoners at work, 240
Friedrich Strasse, 10, 91, 224
Fuchs, Carl, 77, 83
Furloughs, 84, 214-216

248

THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Galsworthy, plays of, 161

Gambling, 192

Geiger, Dr., 173, 183, 184

Gerard, J. W. See American Am-
bassador

German Dramatic Society, 165

German Evangelists, 194-195

Ghetto, 196

Giessen Camp, 37

Gliesch, " Rechnungsrat," 34, 88-89

Glockel, Rittmeister von, 230

Goch, 240

Golconda (steamship), 221

Golf, 133, 138-139

Goodhind, Harold, 163, 166

Grand Stand Hall, 78, 86-87, 128,
158 ff.

Gravesend, 242

Grunewald, iS, 30

Guards, 51-52 ; number of, 52 ;
brutality of, 57, 197 ; removal from
barracks, 170 ; views on war, 214 ;
escorts on furlough, 215 ; removal
to Emigrants' Station, 227

Hair-dressing, 125

Hamburg, agitation for internment in,
22 ; prisoners from, 36, 37 ; bank
clerks' holiday, 84

Hamel, 233

Handicrafts, 152

Harden, Maximilian, 213

Hate, doctrine of, 217

Hatfield, H. S., i 49 , 160

Haylofts, as living-rooms, 30, 47, 50,
123

Health conditions, 183-18S

Heating deficiencies, 72, 169, 177

Heidelberg, 35

Heligoland, prisoner from, 108

Hockey, 133, 139

Holland, as medium of correspond-
ence, 16 ; travelling through, 241

Holzminden Camp, 50, 83, 233

Homburg, 37

Hoppegarten, 35

Horse-boxes as living rooms, 30, 46,
72, 112, 120-121, 124, 125

Hospital. See Lazaret

Hot water, supply of, 79-80, 198

Humour in captivity, 76-77

Insanity, 193-194

Internment, agitation in Germany, 21-
22 ; ultimatum to England, 22 ;
order of, 24 ; preliminary regula-
tions, 29-33 ; question of priority,
35

Invalids, internment of, 37, 85

Irish players, 165

Irish prisoners, secret meeting of,
86; brogue of, 114; society of,
129

J 'Accuse, -2.15

Jackson, j., 163

Jews, segregation of, 40-50 ; number
of, 40 ; ill-treated by guards, 48,
197 ; varied origin of Jewish
prisoners, 196 ; religious services,
200-203 ; dinners for, 203-205 ;
treatment by authorities, 206

Jones, J. P. (Camp treasurer), 60, 68,
230

Journalists, 174, 242

Jutland, Battle of, 232, 237

Kaiser, 10, 16, 43, 109 ; alleged insult
to, 58 ; birthday celebration of, 81,
176

Katz, Dr., 42, 46

Keel, Prof. F., 162

Kessel, General von, 85, 133, 166

Kissingen, 37

Kitchener, Lord, 242

Kitchens, 64, 199

Kommandantur (at Berlin), 39, 51, 98,
104, 171, 227, 229, 235 ; representa-
tives' visit to Ruhleben, 85 ; at
Ruhleben, 215, 216, 220

Kommis bread, 80

Kosher food, 40, 44, 204-205

Kriegsbrot, 170. See also ' War
bread "

Kriegsgefangener, 44

Kultur, 48, 58, 217

Laboratory, 151

Lachmann, Dr., 34

Lacrosse, 133, 139

Lambert, S., 184-185

Lamond, F., 39

Lancastrians, 129 ; cricket match, 136

Language, effect of internment on,
112-113, 194

— study of, 149-150, 153

Latrines, 124

Laundry, 62-63, II 5» 120; laundry-
men, 61

Lazaret, 56, 122, 172, 184-185

Lechmere, Dr. A. E., 151

Lectures, 111, 114, 120, 128, 148, 176,
226

Leipzig, agitation for internment in,
22 ; food riots in, 214

Letters, forwarding of, 19

Liberty, restriction of, 4, 15, 189

Libraries, 69, 77, 78, 153, 177, 208

Lice, 120— 121

Lighting arrangements, 49, 169, 171

INDEX

249

Lining up, 27, 29, 32, 190 ; in Berlin, |
224, 238

Lion-tamers, 116, 198

Literary and Debating Society, 154,

208
• Literature, study of, 153
J " Lobster," 117
. Lodz, prisoner from, 96
i Lost property office, 56

Luxembourg, prisoner from, 97

; Magazines, no, 114, 129, 155-156

! Marine engineers, 127

1 Masterman, J. C, 136, 148, 230

i Mathematics, study of, 151

i Meals, 32, 34-35, 41-42, 66, 178-179

j Measles, 122

! Medal craze, 129

I Medical service, 183-186

] Mental effects, no, 189-194

Messiah, performance of, 79, 208

Meyer, Feldwebel, 57

Mice, 120-122

Military officers, 33-34, 51, 171

Missionaries, repatriation of, 221

Moabit Prison, 11, 19, 240

Mock Trial, 87, 141

Moewe, 233

Mohr, Feldwebel, 34

Money deposits and remittances, 33,
61, 71

Monotony, 190

Moral conditions, 194

Mosquitoes, 120

Miiller, Rittmeister von, 34, 179

Munich, agitation for internment, 22 ;
prisoners from, 36

Munitions, at Spandau, 218

Munster Camp, 82-83

Music, 44, 77, 115, 159—160

Mutzenbecher, Rittmeister von, 141,
145

Naturalisation of prisoners, 196-197

Nauheim, 37

Negroes, S3, 115-116

Newbury Camp, 21

Newspapers, English, 1, 17, 70, 97

— American, 20

— German, 1, 17, 18, 21, 22, 76, 157,
210-21 1, 217

New Year's Day, 79, 176-177
New Zealand, prisoners from, 113
" Nursery," 123

Occupations, 74, 190. See also Trades

Oculist, 187

Opera, 16

Orchestra, 159-160, 208

Organisation of Camp, 60-71

Pantomime, 118, 192

Parades, 32-33, 80-81, 130, 197, 230 ;

the Parade, 114
Parcels, how brought into Camp, 65 ;

parcel post, 70-71 ; delivered by

hand, 74-75 ; sent from England,

182
Paris, Kaiser's predicted capture of, 16
Passover, 201
Passports, 174, 220, 237
" Pea-Nut," 115
Peebles-Conn, J., 159
" Pelote, la," 139
Pentland, Fred, 134, 144
Permit of residence, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, 20
Peters, Dr. Carl, 21
Petticoat Lane, 196
Phcenix Club, 127, 143
Photographs, 229
Pierrots, 131

Ploetzensee Prison, 11, 83
Poles, in prison, 92-93, 96, 100
Police, reporting to, 6, 7, 14, 15, 20—

21, 216
Police force (of prisoners), 55-56, 138,

171
Police Presidency of Berlin, 6, 7, 10
Polyglot elements, 42
Pond Store, 67, 68, 85
Post (in Camp), 126 ; suspension of,

82
Postmen, 38, 43, 61
Potsdamer Platz, 17
Powell, J. (Captain of Camp), 54, 131,

230, 237, 238
Prices, rise of, 16
Priority of internment, 35
Prison experiences. See Stadtvogtei
Prisoners, number at Ruhleben, 52
Prisoners' Pie, 156
Pro-Germans, 78-79 ; varied origin

of, 102 ; friction caused by, 103 ;

segregation of, 105-106, 207 ; re-
cruiting among, 106-109
Prussian Library, Royal, 14, 16
Publications, 155-157
" Pumpernickel," 197, 199, 2 °°
Punishments, 53, 56-59, 75 ; flagstaff

incident, 81 ; for drunkenness, 192-

193 ; for missing buttons, 231

Quoits, 139

Rabbi, visits of, 202-203
Rats, 120-122
Recreation, 75

Recruiting of prisoners, 106-109, 21 r
Red Cross trains, 217
Reichstag, Ruhleben discussion in, 107,
211, 215, 227

250

THE RUHLEBEN PRISON CAMP

Release of prisoners, 220-225, 232,

235 ff-
Relief Fund, 68, 108, 123, 129, 152, 207

Religious services, 194-195

Reprisals, 35, 36

Requiem, performance of Verdi's, 208

Restaurants, 17

Revierstube, 185

Revue, 87, 145

Rhineland, 107, 114, 229

Roads, construction of, 65

Roker, John, 162, 163

Roll-calls, 130

Roman Catholics, 194-195

Rounders, 133

Riidiger, Lieut., 55, 106, 107, 214, 220,

221, 238

Ruhleben British Association, 129

Ruhleben Daily News, 117, 156

Ruhleben Express Delivery, 126

— Hebrew Congregation, 203

— Supplies Delivery, 126
Rumanian in prison, 98-100
Rumours about release, 38, 226 ;

various, 192 ; about exchange, 220
Russians hunted in Schandau, 3 ;
prisoners at Stadtvogtei, 7-14, 93,
100 ; removal from Ruhleben, 83 ;
Russian boys at Ruhleben, 117 ;
prisoners at work, 240

Sabbath, observance of, 44
Samaritan Fund, Good, 183
Sanatorium (of Dr. Weiler), 172, 185-

186, 193
Schandau, holiday at, 2-5, 12, 14
Sckonungsbarracke, 122, 124, 184
School, 149-153, 208
Schwerin, Count von, 33, 51, 79, 85,

88, 105, 145, 159, 171, 225, 228
Scotsmen, 86, 129, 153
Seamen, 36, 114, 151 ; release of,

220
Sennelager, 82-83
Sentries, 51-52, 133. 171
Serbian in prison, 97
Seventh Day Adventists, 194
" Seventy-two hours," 56
Sewage system, 124
Shakespeare, 111, 162
Shaw, Bernard, plays of, 87, 161
Sherlock Holmes, 58, 166, 212
Shops, 69. See also Canteens
Sickness, 183-186
Skittles, 139

Smoking in barracks, 171
Smuggling of letters, 82, 88-89 ; of

newspapers, 212 ; of food, 213, 241
" Snobs," in, 127
Snow, 177

Socialists and Ruhleben, 107, 211,

227
Societies, 111, 129
Society of Friends, 241
Soldiers. See Guards
Soup kitchens for poor, 16 ; for Jews,

201
South Africans, 129, 207
Spandau, 90-91. 101, 131, 135, 175,

192, 193, 218
Spanish play, 166
Sports, committee for, 69, 134, 139;

ground for, 86 ; description of, 132-

139

Spy, author's arrest as Russian, 3 ;
fear of Russian spies, 5 ; warning
against spies, 19 ; suspected spies
in prison, 95 ; spies at Ruhleben, 95

Stables, housing in, 30

Stadtvogtei Prison, author's first visit,
7-14 ; second visit, 25-27 ; third
visit, 88-101, 174, 200 ; its cosmo-
politan character, 93 ; soldier im-
prisoned, 216 ; other references, 20,
3°, 53, 58, 59, 83, 116, 193, 234

Stern, W., 144, 183

Stock-Englander, 103, 113

Stores, military, 80

Students, 114, 191

Studies, 167

Sufferings, 31 ; in early period of
internment, 37, 72 ; in health, 75,
173 ; in camps of Senne, Celle, and
Munster, 83 ; caused by insects,
etc., 1 20-1 2 1 ; due to winter, 177

Suicide, cases of, 97, 193, 194

Sullivan, Tom, 137, 141

" Summer House," 112, 127

Sun-bathing, 128

Supermen, 111

Switzerland, bread from, 180 ; trans-
fer to, 192

Synagogue, 147, 194, 201-202

Taube, Baron von, 33, 37, 39, 40-41,

51, 78, 79, 81, 88, 103, 131, 134, 141,

145, 171, 225, 232
Taube, Baroness von, 131
Taylor, Dr. A. E., reports of, 70, 71,

1 79-1 8 1
Tea-house, 37, 52, 82, 105, 109
Tennis, 133, I37~ I 3 8
Theatre (in Camp), 158, 192
Theatres (in Berlin), 17
Tilbury, 194
Times, 17, 19, 212, 242
Tin boxes, used for military purposes,

63, 217-218
Trades, 69, 74, 78, 125, 208
Trading, prohibition of private, 205

INDEX

251

Trafalgar Square, 79, 117
Treasurer, 60, 68, 230
Treharne, Prof. B., 160, 162
Trinks, E. M., 53
•' Twenty-five " Club, 127

Unter den Linden, 6, 97, 224

Vice, 194

Victories, German celebration of, 17-

18 ; announcement in Camp, 81
Vienna, 114
Visits to prisoners, 75, 213-214, 227-

229
Vorw&rts, 211

Walks, compulsory, 75-76, 198
War, prisoners' attitude to, 191, 212
" War bread," 56 ; composition of,
66, 179

War Office, Prussian, 13, 36, 51, 63,
75, 104, 106, 109, 178, 181, 227, 228,
232, 235

Washing arrangements, 32, 43, 123—
124

Water, supply of, 123-124

Weiler, Dr., 172

Whitewashing of barracks, 125

Wilhelm Platz, 19, 22

Wine, sale of, 229

Wittenberg Camp, 75-76 ; horrors of,

239
Work, fatigue, 64-66

Y.M.C.A. Hall, 150, 153, 176, 194-195.

224, 231
Yiddish, 42
Yorkshiremen, 129

Zakunft, Die, 213

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Hyena of Kallu, The. Louise Gerard.
Jane. Marie Corelli.
Joseph. Frank Danby.

Lady Betty Across the Water. C. N.
and A. M. Williamson.

Lalage's Lovers. G. A. Birmingham.

Lantern Bearers, The. Mrs. Alfred Sidg-
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Lavender and Old Lace. Myrtle Reed.

Light Freights. W. W. Jacobs.

Lodger, The. Mrs. Belloc Lowndes.

Long Road, The. John Oxenham.

Love Pirate, The. C. N. and A. M.
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Mayor of Troy, The. "Q."

Mess Deck, The. W. F. Shannon.

Mighty Atom, The. Marie Corelli.

Mirage. E. Temple Thurston.

E. Phillips Opptn-

Pathway of the Pioneer, The. Dolf
Wyllarde.

Peggy ok the Bartons. B. M. Croker.

S. Macnaughtan.

John

Peter and Jane.

Quest of the Golden Rose, The
Oxenham.

Regent, The. Arnold Bennett.
Remington Sentence, The.

W. Pett

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Round the Red Lamp. Sir A. Conan Doyle.

Marmaduke Pick-

Said, the Fisherman.

thall.
Sally. Dorothea Conyers.
Sandy Married. Dorothea Conyers.
Sea Captain, The. H. C. Bailey.
Sea Lady, The. H. G. Wells.
Search Party, The. G. A. Birmingham.
Secret Woman, The. Eden Phillpotts.

Set in Silver. C. N. and A. M. William-
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Short Cruises. W. W. Jacobs.
Spanish Gold. G. A. Birmingham.
Spinner in the Sun, A. Myrtle Reed.
Street called Straight, The. Basil
King.

Tales of Mean Streets. Arthur Morrison.

Teresa of Watling Street. Arnold
Bennett.

The Secret Agent. John Conrad.

There was a Crooked Man. Dolf Wyllarde.

Tyrant, The. Mrs. Henry de la Pasture.

Under the Red Robe. Stanley J. Weyman.

Unofficial Honeymoon, The. Dolf
Wyllarde.

Virginia Perfect. Peggy Webling.

Wallet of Kai Lung. Ernest Bramah.

Ware Case, The. George Pleydell.

Way Home, The. Basil King.

Way of these Women, The. E. Phillips
Oppenheim.

Weaver of Webs, A. John Oxenham.

Wedding Day, The. C N. and A. M.
Williamson.

White Fang. Jack London.

Wild Olive, The. Basil King.

Woman with the Fan, The. Robert
Hichens.

WO2. Maurice Drake.

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Barbara Rebell. Mrs. Belloc Lowndes.

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Andrew Balfour.
The. William

Novelist.

Edna

Blunder of an Innocent, The

Maria Albanesi.
Broom Squire, The.
Bv Stroke of Sword
Count's Chauffeur,

Queux.
Derrick Vaughan,

Lyall.
Dodo. E. F. Benson.
Drama in Sunshine, A. H. A. Vachell.
Drift. L. T. Meade.
Green Graves ok Balgowrie, The. Jane

H. Findlater.
Heart of His Heart. E. M. Albanesi.
House of Whispers, The. William le

Queux.
Human Boy, The. Eden Phillpotts.
I Crown Thee King. Max Pemberton.
Inca's Treasure, The. E. Glanville.
In the Roar of the Sea. S. Baring-Gould.
Into Temptation. Alice Perrin.

Katherine the Arrogant. Mrs. B. M.
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Lady in the Car, The. William le Queux.

Late in Life. Alice Perrin.

Lone Pine. R. B. Townshend.

Master of Men. E. Phillips Oppenheim.

Miser Hoadley j s Secret. A. W. March-
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Mixed Marriage, A. Mrs. F. E. Penny.

Moment's Error, A. A. W. Marchmont.

Mother's Son, A. B. and C. B. Fry.

Peter, a Parasite. E. Maria Albanesi.

Pomp of the Lavii.ettes, The. Sir Gilbert
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Prince Rupert the Buccaneer. C. J.
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Princess Vip.ginia, The. C N. and A. M.

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Profit and Loss. John Oxenham.

Red Derelict, The. Bertram Mitford.

Red House, The. E. Nesbit.

Sign of the Spider, The. Bertram Mitford.

Son of the State, A. W. Pett Ridge.

W0 2 . Maurice Drake.

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